Even though you may have tried umpteem different approaches which appear distinct from one another, they all have something in common-and that one thing they have in common is also the one thing that is keeping you from losing the weight you want to.

Let me explain…

Almost everything you’ve ever heard in your life on the topic of weight loss, probably falls into the category of what I call the “masculine strategies for weight loss.”

These strategies include dieting, deprivation, food-restriction, portion control, self-control, calorie counting, diet pills, and punishing exercise.

Sound familiar?

It sounds like it should work, (right?) but here’s the problem…

95% of women who use these approaches gain back any weight lost within one year-if they lose weight at all in the first place.

Even though you may have tried umpteem different approaches which appear distinct from one another, they all have something in common-and that one thing they have in common is also the one thing that is keeping you from losing the weight you want to.

Let me explain…

Almost everything you’ve ever heard in your life on the topic of weight loss, probably falls into the category of what I call the “masculine strategies for weight loss.”

These strategies include dieting, deprivation, food-restriction, portion control, self-control, calorie counting, diet pills, and punishing exercise.

Sound familiar?

It sounds like it should work, (right?) but here’s the problem…

95% of women who use these approaches gain back any weight lost within one year-if they lose weight at all in the first place.

Let’s face it. These strategies simply don’t work for most women.

Why not?

Because they were designed by and for men, to fit with men’s psychology and physiology. They just don’t work for most women

But fear not. For us women, there is a better way.

Introducing what I call the “feminine strategies for weight loss.”

The feminine strategies work with, rather than against, the wisdom of your body, and include:

Relaxation

Pleasure

Desire

Sensuality

Curiosity

Nourishment

Nurturance

With these strategies I’ve seen the most astonishing results of women losing weight after years of suffering with emotional eating, bad body image and stubborn weight gain.

If you’ve had enough of living in fear and stress around food, disliking your body, and not being able to fit into the clothes you really want to show off to the world…

If so join me, Jena la Flamme, weight loss expert and founder of the Jena Wellness Center in NYC, as featured in Glamour, Pilates Style and on Discovery Health Channel, and Marc David, renowned nutritionist, founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, author of “The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure Energy and Weight Loss” for a FREE webinar called

The 4 Biggest Weight Loss Myths That Prevent You From Losing Weight and What to Do About It

In this webinar you will learn:

Why almost everything you’ve been taught about weight loss actually sabotages your results and makes it harder and harder to burn fat as time goes by

The little-talked about scientific principle that immediately erases feelings of guilt and shame around food

How to permanently stop worrying about fat on your body (or in your food) while still getting the results you want

Why lasting weight loss is NOT a function of eating less and exercising more–it would have worked for you by now if it was going to, right? And what actually counts to melt away the pounds.

Why over-eating is not a willpower problem, and the surprising remedy

The secrets of a “No Diet” Diet — that actually works to shift your weight for good without struggle

The wisdom of “pleasure” and why you’ll battle with food and weight forever without this piece to the puzzle…

The secrets of the 1 – 2 % of women who lose weight and keep it off longterm, effortlessly

The good news is the weight loss solution is actually quite the opposite of a restrictive diet. In fact it’s fun, delicious and satisfying.

If you’re like many people, losing those last 10 or 20 pounds or more is one of the most important priorities in your life–with implications for your sex life, your sense of self-esteem, your happiness, your romantic relationship, and even your career.

Is it worth it to you to spend 1 hour to access information that could literally save you years of more frustration, more diets, more self-loathing, and more weight on the scales?

If you’re ready for the shortcut–and if you’re ready for that shortcut to be fun, pleasurable, and easy–then I look forward to seeing you in this call.

Register –> HERE <–

P. S. If you can’t make it at that time, no problem, just register anyway and I’ll send you the mp3 recording, so that you can listen to it on your schedule.

P. P. S. Restricting yourself seems like such a “logical” solution, but as you’ve noticed, it’s never a livable, long-term solution, and equates to walking on egg-shells around food for life. No fun! Come discover a whole new paradigm for re-setting your metabolism for permanent weight loss without deprivation. Join us –> HERE <–

You’ve likely noticed, there are areas of your life where everything works…

…and there are areas where you get really discouraged, easily frustrated,
and can’t for the life of you make what you want happen.

For many powerful women, feeling unhappy about their weight and body image falls into that category.

While for others that missing thing is a satisfying and rewarding career.

And for others still, it’s nourishing, fulfilling, and passionate relationships.

In either case, there’s a voice whispering in your ear, with never ending persistence, no matter how many times it’s been ignored, that is part of the solution…if only you would listen.

Join me, Jena la Flamme, weight loss expert and founder of the Jena Wellness
Center in NYC, as featured in Glamour, Pilates Style and on Discovery Health
Channel, and Elizabeth Joy Mueller, former corporate management consultant turned soul healer, for a FREE 60 minute webinar to ignite your path to weight loss, wellbeing and getting exactly what you want.

In this webinar you will:

Discover how to get your body to tell you EXACTLY what you need for easy, effortless, and lasting weight loss

Learn how to turn up the volume on that quiet voice within, from a whisper to a roar, and how to use the “download” to feel happier and more powerful than ever before

Learn one easy technique to clear out what’s getting in your way–in business, love or wellness–and propel you forward towards the life and body of your dreams

Discover how to confidently toss all the diet books on your shelf into the recycling bin and be guided by the voice within as to how to ignite your innate fat-urning powers

Break through the inexplicable barrier that is restricting and limiting your success
Discover how to apply your feminine body wisdom to melt away fat like butter on a hot day.

Are you ready to stop drowning out the smartest part of you, and unlock your power?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010, at 8pm EST, 5pm PST

Space is limited so register HERE

Love,
Jena

P.S. Even if you are unable to make the webinar live, enter with your name and email and we’ll send you an mp3 recording as soon as it is available. That way you can listen to this great information when it suits your schedule

As odd as it may sound, one of the best things that ever happened was being stood up at a salsa club. I had always presumed I needed a companion to go to a nightclub, but that night when my girlfriend failed to show, I discovered I could safely and pleasurably navigate club space alone. The setting was a salon on Broadway. La Belle Epoque, reminiscent of Paris in the era of Art Nouveau, had a black and white tiled floor, small round tables, wicker-backed chairs and a wrought iron balcony. I had learnt the basics of salsa many years ago in a friend’s living room and fortunately retained enough to venture out on my own. Little did I know, as I dared the dance floor, that hypnotic magic was being invited into my body.

Sadly, la Belle Epoque eventually closed its doors to salsa, and the dance fell out of my routine for several years. It lingered however, in the shadows of my psyche, like a latent seed seeking fertile ground.

And then one evening at a New York dinner party I was introduced to George, the charming owner of a Latin dance school, Stepping Out Studios. My eyes widened and a smile erupted as George handed me a pass for one free month of classes. Perfect! I knew this signified the long-awaited return of salsa to my life.

This time, I decided I was going to take it more seriously. I sought proper salsa shoes and discovered they have soft suede soles that enclose the feet with a firm caress whilst gripping the dance floor with ferocity – and yet remain too delicate to be worn on the street. Equipped with new shoes and excitement, I was ready for class.

After completing one month of formal lessons, I had signed up for my second when a friend introduced me to a venue that has since become my second home: Taj Lounge on 21st street between 5th and 6th. It thrilled me from the moment I walked in. The dŽcor is exotic and sensual. Large swathes of raw silk drape the room in rich color-saffron, crimson. Recessed booths piled with cushions are framed with ornate wooden latticework, circular tables proffer aromatic food and exotic Indian statues overlook the dance floor.

Since then I have returned every week to this place that feeds my hunger for movement: the salsa dance floor. Like great food, yoga and sex, salsa makes me feel ecstatic and alive. This “effect” is nothing less than trance. At the base of the music the drums weave a rhythmic web with beats that ensnare the dancer. They are designed to be hypnotic, allowing with the dance to continue forever. Overlaid are the melodies that repeat like mantras, deepening the hook the music has on the psyche. And why is this so important? Simply put, trance heals. In the depths of such a state, the whirring thoughts of the mind quiet and peace descends. It can feel like a wonderful relief. As I dance I feel the medicine of the music tranquillizing my frazzled mind and washing away layers of stress across my body. Salsa demands that I let go.

In essence the dance is a meditation in motion. Salsa draws its roots from the Earth-based spiritual tradition of Voodoo. This way of celebrating the divine focused more on what’s below the feet rather than in the sky. For them, where our feet kiss the Earth is the same level where plants take root, animals graze and we bury our dead. The salseros focus on the Earth because that is the source of life.

So back to the dance, each step of the feet on the floor is as deliberate as each sound of the drum. The rhythmic beating-feet on ground and hand on drum-remind us of where all life originates-Mother Earth. Salsa prompts us to pay attention to our hips and the raw energies that animate our bodies. The movement is inherently sexual, acknowledging we too are part of the reproductive world. It’s no wonder that here in the concrete jungle where the fertile Earth can seem far away and difficult to touch, that salsa feels so reassuring to me.

I was raised listening to classical music characterized by complex melodies that float to the sky, in the direction of a heavenly realm. Salsa, with its wild and wanton rhythms has an entirely different spiritual emphasis-it literally drums praise down into the Earth.

With salsa now lodged deeply inside, I have arranged my New York existence to encompass regular doses of this medicine. I am not just out at clubs or socials, I also attend classes. The school is a scene of its own. Don’t be fooled by the stereotype that Latin dance is only for Latinos. Every color and creed are present in New York salsa scene-united by the contagion of ecstasy bred by this dance. The technique is taught in bite-sized chunks, as with cookbooks that show if you read you can cook so too these instructors guarantee: if you can walk, you can dance. All it takes is showing up.

I return again each week, not just for hypnotic high, but the nourishment of the social environment. From castles to meadows, the practice of partner dancing pervades space and time as the ultimate model of etiquette between woman and man. It demonstrates how opposite sexes can relate in a synergistic, respectful, yet sensual way. This practice is particularly healthy in guiding men to treat women as artistic partners not sexual objects. All my salsa partners have been consummate gentlemen; the dance teaches skills that persist off the dance floor.

There are many other rituals going on outside of the dance itself. For example the practice of asking someone to dance, the subsequent acceptance or decline, the subtle signaling that one wants to be asked to dance, saying goodbye at the end and switching partners. It amazes me how I can dance intimately in the arms of a stranger for five minutes and then be passed along to another and another, all in complete safety. The yogic teachings of non-attachment and opening the heart are unwittingly woven into the Latin social structure.

Perhaps the absence of regular social dance while growing up is the reason we have so much social dysfunction these days, maybe we haven’t had the environment to practice behaviors that cultivate honest communication within a community and between genders.

In the movie “Take the Lead,” Antonio Bendaras’ character, Pierre Dulaine volunteers to teach Latin and ballroom dancing in NYC schools. When the relevance of his work to the average high school pupil is challenged by a narrow-minded teacher who threatens the future of his class, he explains the deeper benefits: “Now if your 16 year old daughter allows me to lead, she is trusting me, but more than that, she is trusting herself. And if she is strong, secure and trusts herself then how likely is she to let some idiot knock her up? And if your son can learn to touch women with respect, how will he treat women throughout his life? I teach dance, and with it a set of rules that will teach your children about trust, teamwork and dignity. And that will give them a vision of the future they will have.”

I appreciate Latin values for the importance given to dance. It delights me that the Latino mindset deems dance a necessary ingredient for the fullest expression of machismo. In salsa it appears that the man is leading, but energetically both create the dance. As Dulaine went on to say, “in salsa the man leads, or rather he proposes the step-it is the woman’s choice to follow.” The onus is on communicating beyond words. The overflow-as you learn to do that with another, so you learn to do it with yourself.

Partner dance fosters self-awareness in a way that is akin to yoga practice. As I fall into beat with the music and my partner at once, I feel optimism flowering in me. These movements also deliver me to the same place an hour on my yoga mat does. I simply feel better about being alive, the small problems seem less bothersome, and the possibilities life offers me seem wider. I feel reminded that people can mix harmoniously and that happiness is our natural underlying state.

The perks are many and myriad-did I mention that salsa tones and defines abs, arms and shoulders? I could go on with more reasons to dance, but at this point, words have no meaning; you simply must surrender to the music and the raging call of your body’s desire to move with another.

In New York salsa music pours abundantly from live bands and DJs alike. Like a Latin mother’s milk, it nourishes communities and reignites their aliveness with an ecstatic marriage of percussion and melody. As dancers we become family on the dance floor. And as individuals we become peaceful, delighted, self-expressed and a celebration of ourselves.

© 2008 Jena la Flamme

The demands of daily life can be exhausting and so stressful that even the thought of relaxing can be simply too much to handle.

When stress escalates, it’s predictable to feel that food, substances or mood swings have more control over you than you have over yourself.

This quickly becomes a vicious cycle: feeling too heavy to be happy, too stressed to chill out, and too darn fatigued to do anything about it.

Are you lacking energy and exuberance, barely making it to the end of the week, too exhausted to make use of your precious time off?

Do you feel constantly in an energy deficit and a stress overload, and turn to food, drink or mind-numbing activities as an attempt to balance it all out and feel better?

Is your self-esteem a fraction of what you know it could be if you were to get your stress, energy and weight under control?

If so, join Jena la Flamme, weight loss expert and founder of the Jena Wellness Center in NYC,as featured in Glamour, Pilates Style and on Discovery Health Channel, and Lea Kraemer, yoga instructor and founder of Prana Mandir Yoga Studio in Manhattan, as seen in Time Out, Fit Yoga, and Aquarian Times, for a FREE 60 minute webinar to recharge your batteries, relieve your stress and melt fat off your body.

In this webinar you will:

• Learn how to release stress and build a powerful immune system, not just to cold and flues, but to infectious negativity that circulates faster than a virus.
• Transform your inner energy reserves from a deficit to an overflow with 3 very doable lifestyle changes, that don’t take years to master.
• Discover how you can stop overeating with one easy technique that you can do anywhere, whether you are at the office, out with friends or home alone.
• Explore the delicious, scrumptious, natural foods that boost energy while melting fat. Learn the stress-busting activity that requires zero preparation.

Space is Limited so Register Soon! –> HERE <–

As odd as it may sound, one of the best things that ever happened was being stood up at a salsa club. I had always presumed I needed a companion to go to a nightclub, but that night when my girlfriend failed to show, I discovered I could safely and pleasurably navigate club space alone. The setting was a salon on Broadway. La Belle Epoque, reminiscent of Paris in the era of Art Nouveau, had a black and white tiled floor, small round tables, wicker-backed chairs and a wrought iron balcony. I had learnt the basics of salsa many years ago in a friend’s living room and fortunately retained enough to venture out on my own. Little did I know, as I dared the dance floor, that hypnotic magic was being invited into my body.

Sadly, la Belle Epoque eventually closed its doors to salsa, and the dance fell out of my routine for several years. It lingered however, in the shadows of my psyche, like a latent seed seeking fertile ground.

And then one evening at a New York dinner party I was introduced to George, the charming owner of a Latin dance school, Stepping Out Studios. My eyes widened and a smile erupted as George handed me a pass for one free month of classes. Perfect! I knew this signified the long-awaited return of salsa to my life.

This time, I decided I was going to take it more seriously. I sought proper salsa shoes and discovered they have soft suede soles that enclose the feet with a firm caress whilst gripping the dance floor with ferocity – and yet remain too delicate to be worn on the street. Equipped with new shoes and excitement, I was ready for class.

After completing one month of formal lessons, I had signed up for my second when a friend introduced me to a venue that has since become my second home: Taj Lounge on 21st street between 5th and 6th. It thrilled me from the moment I walked in. The decor is exotic and sensual. Large swatches of raw silk drape the room in rich color-saffron, crimson. Recessed booths piled with cushions are framed with ornate wooden latticework, circular tables proffer aromatic food and exotic Indian statues overlook the dance floor.

Since then I have returned every week to this place that feeds my hunger for movement: the salsa dance floor. Like great food, yoga and sex, salsa makes me feel ecstatic and alive. This “effect” is nothing less than trance. At the base of the music the drums weave a rhythmic web with beats that ensnare the dancer. They are designed to be hypnotic, allowing with the dance to continue forever. Overlaid are the melodies that repeat like mantras, deepening the hook the music has on the psyche. And why is this so important? Simply put, trance heals. In the depths of such a state, the whirring thoughts of the mind quiet and peace descends. It can feel like a wonderful relief. As I dance I feel the medicine of the music tranquillizing my frazzled mind and washing away layers of stress across my body. Salsa demands that I let go.

In essence the dance is a meditation in motion. Salsa draws its roots from the Earth-based spiritual tradition of Voodoo. This way of celebrating the divine focused more on what’s below the feet rather than in the sky. For them, where our feet kiss the Earth is the same level where plants take root, animals graze and we bury our dead. The salseros focus on the Earth because that is the source of life.

So back to the dance, each step of the feet on the floor is as deliberate as each sound of the drum. The rhythmic beating-feet on ground and hand on drum-remind us of where all life originates-Mother Earth. Salsa prompts us to pay attention to our hips and the raw energies that animate our bodies. The movement is inherently sexual, acknowledging we too are part of the reproductive world. It’s no wonder that here in the concrete jungle where the fertile Earth can seem far away and difficult to touch, that salsa feels so reassuring to me.

I was raised listening to classical music characterized by complex melodies that float to the sky, in the direction of a heavenly realm. Salsa, with its wild and wanton rhythms has an entirely different spiritual emphasis-it literally drums praise down into the Earth.

With salsa now lodged deeply inside, I have arranged my New York existence to encompass regular doses of this medicine. I am not just out at clubs or socials, I also attend classes. The school is a scene of its own. Don’t be fooled by the stereotype that Latin dance is only for Latinos. Every color and creed are present in New York salsa scene-united by the contagion of ecstasy bred by this dance. The technique is taught in bite-sized chunks, as with cookbooks that show if you read you can cook so too these instructors guarantee: if you can walk, you can dance. All it takes is showing up.

I return again each week, not just for hypnotic high, but the nourishment of the social environment. From castles to meadows, the practice of partner dancing pervades space and time as the ultimate model of etiquette between woman and man. It demonstrates how opposite sexes can relate in a synergistic, respectful, yet sensual way. This practice is particularly healthy in guiding men to treat women as artistic partners not sexual objects. All my salsa partners have been consummate gentlemen; the dance teaches skills that persist off the dance floor.

There are many other rituals going on outside of the dance itself. For example the practice of asking someone to dance, the subsequent acceptance or decline, the subtle signaling that one wants to be asked to dance, saying goodbye at the end and switching partners. It amazes me how I can dance intimately in the arms of a stranger for five minutes and then be passed along to another and another, all in complete safety. The yogic teachings of non-attachment and opening the heart are unwittingly woven into the Latin social structure.

Perhaps the absence of regular social dance while growing up is the reason we have so much social dysfunction these days, maybe we haven’t had the environment to practice behaviors that cultivate honest communication within a community and between genders.

In the movie “Take the Lead,” Antonio Bendaras’ character, Pierre Dulaine volunteers to teach Latin and ballroom dancing in NYC schools. When the relevance of his work to the average high school pupil is challenged by a narrow-minded teacher who threatens the future of his class, he explains the deeper benefits: “Now if your 16 year old daughter allows me to lead, she is trusting me, but more than that, she is trusting herself. And if she is strong, secure and trusts herself then how likely is she to let some idiot knock her up? And if your son can learn to touch women with respect, how will he treat women throughout his life? I teach dance, and with it a set of rules that will teach your children about trust, teamwork and dignity. And that will give them a vision of the future they will have.”

I appreciate Latin values for the importance given to dance. It delights me that the Latino mindset deems dance a necessary ingredient for the fullest expression of machismo. In salsa it appears that the man is leading, but energetically both create the dance. As Dulaine went on to say, “in salsa the man leads, or rather he proposes the step-it is the woman’s choice to follow.” The onus is on communicating beyond words. The overflow-as you learn to do that with another, so you learn to do it with yourself.

Partner dance fosters self-awareness in a way that is akin to yoga practice.

As I fall into beat with the music and my partner at once, I feel optimism flowering in me. These movements also deliver me to the same place an hour on my yoga mat does. I simply feel better about being alive, the small problems seem less bothersome, and the possibilities life offers me seem wider. I feel reminded that people can mix harmoniously and that happiness is our natural underlying state.

The perks are many and myriad-did I mention that salsa tones and defines abs, arms and shoulders? I could go on with more reasons to dance, but at this point, words have no meaning; you simply must surrender to the music and the raging call of your body’s desire to move with another.

In New York salsa music pours abundantly from live bands and DJs alike. Like a Latin mother’s milk, it nourishes communities and reignites their aliveness with an ecstatic marriage of percussion and melody. As dancers we become family on the dance floor. And as individuals we become peaceful, delighted, self-expressed and a celebration of ourselves.

© 2008 Jena la Flamme

Being unable to zip up your clothes, or finding them unbearably tight, poses a difficult conundrum. With your self-esteem plummeting as the number on the scales mount, what’s a busy woman to do?

Switch to stretchy pants, or go shopping for a bigger size?

Engage in a holy war against the bulge by renouncing the foods you love?

Resign yourself to the thought “I’m getting old,” and give up dating in favor of a love affair with the treadmill?

The answer: No! None of the above.

It’s time to thank your body for the red flags it is flying. It’s a sign that something is out of whack and it’s time to learn to tango–well, metaphorically speaking at least.

In this webinar, we will use the beautiful metaphor of dance, and in particular, tango, to show you the path to pleasurable and fun weight loss that doesn’t feel like a burden.

In tango, one partner leads while the other follows, but neither dominates. Held in a sensitive embrace, they read each other’s signals without words, and step by step create magic.

Whether you’re on a mission to reconstruct your self-esteem or sculpt a new body or both, it’s the same dance. As in tango, creativity and passion are the keys, not force or control.

Join, Jena la Flamme, weight loss expert and founder of the Jena Wellness Center in NYC, as featured in Glamour, Pilates Style and on Discovery Health Channel, and Carla Tara, Tantric teacher and author of Tantric Tango Dancer: A Journey into Intimacy, Relationships and Love for a FREE 60 minute webinar to dance your way to a life of intimacy and satisfaction, and the body of your dreams.

In this webinar you will:

• Discover the foods that motivate you to exercise and make you feel delicious all over.
• Learn how to fly out of your self-made cage, ditch depression and live self-expressed and confident.
• Discover how to apply your feminine body wisdom to melt away fat like butter on a hot day.
• Learn to rekindle lost interest in sex and romance and feel comfortable by the attention you get from men.
• Learn how to surrender completely, as in partner dance, to being guided on your weight loss journey
• Imagine what it would be like to dance rather than fight?

Stop repeating your old mistakes that exacerbate your misery and channel your energy in a useful and positive direction.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 5pm PST/8pm EST

Space is limited so register HERE

P.S. If you can’t make the webinar live, a recording will be available as long as you register!

]]> http://jenawellness.com/blog/archives/282/feed 0 http://jenawellness.com/blog/archives/272 http://jenawellness.com/blog/archives/272#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:26:23 +0000 Jena http://jenawellness.com/blog/?p=272

For years I lamented not having a flat belly. On one level, vanity fueled my desire, but on a deeper level, I knew that my belly was synonymous with the center of my body and the center of my being. I knew that the journey to a flat belly would simultaneously lead me to be in alignment with my core self.

My suspicion that a weight loss odyssey would take me through deep waters ended up being proving correct. Every lesson that helped me sculpt away the excess around my waist, unveiling the flat belly that had been waiting for me underneath all along, had a distinct parallel in terms of fashioning a life for myself, which was true and authentic to who I am.

I came to discover that weight loss was not limited to wise choices in the area of food and exercise, and that relationships, sex, self-expression, career and pleasure, were all fair game in my flat belly adventure. Who would have thought? Not me! At the outset, I was stuck in the old school paradigm of “decrease calories in and increase calories out,” though when I really got into it, that concept turned out to be unhelpful at best.

Fortunately, however, the trail of breadcrumbs that did eventually lead me to a flat belly had nothing to do with dieting or “burning it off” in the gym, was not arduous, and was surprisingly easy and enjoyable once I found the keys that unlocked the metabolic mystery.

In this article I am going to share with you four surprising, pleasurable and unexpected ways to flatten your belly, which no one is talking about.

1. Consume Your Body’s Surprising Favorite Ingredient for a Flat Belly

You may have heard it said before, that your body can survive several weeks without food, several days without water, but only a few minutes without oxygen. Given that oxygen is therefore the most essential nutrient for our body, have you ever stopped to think about the role it might play in weight loss and melting belly fat?

It turns out, oxygen, yes plain, good old 02, which is free and available for anyone who is willing to simply flex their lung power, is your body’s favorite ingredient for a flat belly.

Wondering how this works? It’s like this. Just as wood in a fire requires oxygen to burn, so our bodies literally need oxygen to “burn” the food we put in our stomachs. The simple combination of oxygen plus food is what makes up 95% of the energy your body generates!

Food, without the oxygen it needs to burn, gives us nothing but extra weight to carry around. Although we obviously don’t stop breathing completely, in our modern, urban life, it is common to subsist with an unconscious pattern of shallow, rapid breaths. I know that until I was trained in deep breathing, my breath patterns were definitely so.

When you feel stressed out, be it by the day-to-day activities of life, or by restricting food as part of a diet, it only makes matters worse, as shallow breathing naturally accompanies stress. In this mode, your body’s internal digestive and fat burning “fire” literally dims due to lack of oxygen, and your desired flat belly becomes more and more of a pipe dream.

The good news is that even if we are stressed out, we can trick the body into thinking otherwise simply by breathing deeply. Just as blowing on a fire makes it burn brighter, so deep breathing stokes your own digestive fire, and with your inner oven roaring, a flat belly now becomes a realistic goal.

When you mix your food with high doses of oxygen, you create the optimal condition for boosting your metabolism, and along with it, raise your fat burning capability.

Here’s how to do it: Before you eat, STOP, and breathe. Without picking up the fork, breathe for as long as it takes you to reach a slow, deep breathing rhythm. If you are already relaxed, three breaths may be enough. If you are feeling highly strung, it may take a few more. Give yourself those breaths no matter what. Rest assured, you deserve it. As you breathe you’ll start to smell the food, which is also good for your digestive power, giving your digestive juices a moment to prepare.

Then, as you begin to eat, continue to breath mindfully. Breathe through your nose as your mouth will be busy chewing your food! It’s as simple as that. A very easy technique, which is free and anyone can do, and generates amazing results.

One of my clients, Belinda, was astounded at how her morning routine transformed with the addition of this simple technique. A successful attorney, she began her days multi-tasking at breakfast, reading the paper as she ate. She would eat both cereal and eggs and would still leave the table dissatisfied, wanting seconds yet resisting the urge. In addition to following my instruction to breathe mindfully, she decided to forgo the paper until later. Too her great surprise, she found that she was aware of much more flavor, and experienced an exponentially greater degree of pleasure from the same food she’d been eating for years. Furthermore, she noticed she was full after eating half as much as she usually ate. Over time, she consistently felt lighter and more energized, and soon her pants felt looser.

Try it for yourself. You’ll digest better, you’ll taste more of your food, you’ll be satisfied more quickly, and you’ll ramp up your fat burning capability. Few of us know that when you breathe more, you burn more. Now that you know the secret, don’t squander it, breathe!

Eat what you want and get a flat belly? It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But if you know your desires deeply enough, it actually works. The trick to eating what you want and losing weight at the same time, is that you have to be willing to get to know your desires really well. And in order to that, you need to be in a relaxed state.

Here’s an analogy. Imagine yourself in your most stressed out state. Whatever is on your mind – work, the kids, or your allegedly disappointing body – is making you chomp at the bit of life and froth at the mouth. Out of the blue someone asks you, “I’d like to give you a gift. What would you like?”

Chances are, that unless you have a pre-meditated answer, you would either draw a blank or come up with a superficial desire, such as “a can of soda.” On the other hand, if you were truly relaxed and had time to feel into the question, you’d hear beyond your surface wishes, to your true, deeper longings and respond with a great answer.

The same goes for food. If you come home all frazzled and ask yourself, “what do I want to eat?” you will get an answer that is about two inches deep. It may likely be a high carb or high fat, low nutrient treat of some sort.

On the other hand, if you sit down, have a glass of water, relaaaax, and then ask yourself, “what do I want to eat?” you are going to get a totally different answer because this answer will have true depth.

“A lush, colorful salad with fresh greens, some tasty protein and a wholesome carb,” your body might say

at this point. Try it for yourself and see.

Again and again, as I teach my clients to listen more deeply to the true desires of their body, and to their great surprise, the longings they report are for healthy, fresh foods, the exact types that melt away fat and unveil a flat belly.

The simple truth is, your body wants to lose weight just as much as you do. Your body’s true desire is to feel energized and alive, and if you are eating, nutrient-void, sugary or fatty junk food it is not what your body wants.

For Deborah, a seasoned communications professional, the bane of her year was ghostwriting a bi-annual report on her boss’s voice. In preparation, she had a ritual of binging in a host of sugary, fatty treats, which numbed out her anxieties about the project and gave her an excuse to procrastinate.

We had been working on her attending to her desires for some time when the dreaded report came around again. Just as she was on the brink of diving into her old pattern again, she remembered our talks and decided to stop and tune in to what she really wanted. “A glass of water, some fresh fruit and a walk around the block,” piped up a voice from within. She heeded the impulse and when she finally sat down to write, she found this the least painful major report she’s ever written.

Weeks later she was shopping for clothes on the Internet and bought her usual size out of habit. To her delight, when the clothes arrived she had to send them back as they were a full size too big. What was truly delightful about it was that she hadn’t controlled her appetite, nor had she restricted herself. The physical change she was seeing had come from listening more deeply to her longings and being true to the desires she uncovered, a pleasurable and sustainable strategy.

Relax into the moment, however, listen to the desires of your body, and your instinct will pave the way to the flat belly and slender body that awaits you.

3. Why Stress Will Ruin Your Belly and its Pleasurable Antidote

Stress, stress, stress. We all know it ever more intimately as time goes by. It may seem obvious that if you are stressed out and you react by taking solace in junk food or overeating, this will swerve your predictable path away from a flat belly future. But the plot may be thicker than you think.

Did you know that if even if you eat something as innocuous as a carrot stick, and you’re stressed out, that it can still cause you to pack on the pounds?

Why is this so? It has nothing to do with the calories in the food. It’s about the metabolic environment within your own body, which dictates what your body does with the nutrients that enter it.

It goes like this. The stress response triggers the stress hormone cortisol, among many others. Cortisol in turn boosts another hormone, insulin, and insulin signals the body to do three important things that are the enemy of a flat belly: (i) to stop burning fat (ii) to stop building muscle and (iii) to store more fat!

The logic goes that even if you are eating something relatively healthy, by stressing out for one reason or another – be it about your job, your guy, your weight or anything else – for 85% of the population, the body will gain weight, not lose it. But before you get mad at your body, and generate even more stress, trust me, there is wisdom in your body’s inner workings, it just takes looking at the big picture to see it.

When you are under stress your body literally thinks your life is in danger. When it feel stress, it doesn’t distinguish between a real danger or one you have invented in your head. Your body thinks the equivalent of a hungry saber-tooth tiger may be rapidly approaching and it will do everything it can to save your life. To do this, it pumps blood to your arms and legs for fast fighting or fleeing, and to your brain for fast thinking. That means that blood rushes away from the fat burning and muscle toning functions, the body’s way of prioritizing “surviving” over “sculpting.”

There’s no use in blaming the body for its survival instincts, they’ve been operating for millions of years and they aren’t going anywhere. However you can use your understanding of the situation to enlist the antidote.

I call it R & P: Relaxation and Pleasure. Nothing, and I mean nothing, makes the stress response melt away like relaxation and pleasure.

4. How Pleasure Can Be Your Secret, Insider Weight Loss Weapon

Pleasure, beloved pleasure. We all love it yet sadly few of us realize how healthy pleasure actually is. Pleasure, when embraced without fear, is your secret, insider weapon for an effortless flat belly.

Why? Because of the very important role it plays in the workings of your metabolism. Whereas stress extinguishes digestive and fat burning powers like a bucket of cold water, pleasure amps up the heat. Pleasure tells your body that its survival is not at threat, that no fighting or fleeing are required, and that it is a good time to digest well, get the most nutrition possible out of the food, and burn of the excess.

The way to experience the most pleasure is to bring all of your senses to the table. Not only your taste buds, but the senses that take in the look, smell and texture of the food too. When you do so, your built-in body wisdom rears up in full force. In this mode, where pleasure is a priority, your body will quickly let you know if the food is nutritionally inadequate by showing a lack of satisfaction with and interest in empty calories that have little to offer.

On the other hand, eat healthy, nutritious, naturally flavorsome fare in this state, and your body will give you a clear sign that it likes what you are doing. How? By giving you the positive feedback of even more pleasure, in this case, lasting pleasure. Healthy food gives the gift of sustained high energy, whereas nutrient-void, processed foods give only a short-term rush followed by an unpleasant crash.

There are multiple other metabolic reasons to adopt pleasure as a weight loss strategy, but I will leave you with one final takeaway.

Start to trust your pleasure. If there’s something you love, embrace your love for it, and become a stranger to guilt. Guilt, being a stressful emotion, raises cortisol levels, the hormonal enemy of a flat belly.

Even if you think there’s no way your favorite chocolate cake could be helping your weight loss mission, bring all your senses to the table and savor it. Let your body relax into the experience and eat only the amount that is wonderfully pleasurable for you. When it stops tasting exquisitely pleasurable and exactly what your desire is calling for, stop eating. Until that point enjoy. Breathing as you eat will help you do this.

Eliza, a self-employed entrepreneur and mom, had been telling her friends that she was working with a weight loss coach and had been losing a few pounds. She scoffed at her friends on a weekend away when out came a cake and they told her, “you can’t have any, you’re on a weight loss program, right?”

“You really don’t get it,” she said. “Jena would approve 100% of me having this cake, as long as I truly enjoy it. She refused to react to their provocations, side-stepped the “guilt booby trap” they appeared to be laying for her, and ate just as much cake as gave her pleasure, without causing bloating or doing any harm to her waistline.

Keep applying these principles to all the meals and foods you eat. Consume your body’s favorite ingredient, oxygen, in liberal amounts. Get to know your deepest desires so that you don’t eat what you don’t really want. Understand the weight loss villain, stress. And use pleasure daily as your secret weapon for weight loss. Follow these easy guidelines and you may be surprised how soon a flat belly is yours.

Former Business Week journalist and ABC Foreign Correspondent, Scott Shuster said of this audio, “Jena, I absolutely adore your “4 Unexpected Ways.”  Brilliant!  I am implementing all recommendations in my own life immediately!  I will be sharing this with my 21 year old daughter, as well as with my business partner. The concepts are so original that I also would not be surprised if the New York Times snapped this up.”

If you want to stop fighting with food and weight, here’s your access to your f*ree audio, “The 4 Unexpected Ways to Flatten Your Belly Fast” CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OR PLAY IT HERE

Don’t miss this chance to get my surprising, pleasurable and unexpected weight loss secrets for free and learn:

- the part “PLEASURE” plays in weight loss
- how to harness your body’s built in fat-burning powers
- the taste sensations that assist slimming
- something you can do, even in the office, that helps kick cravings

I look forward to hearing your comments.

Warmly,

Jena