You may know her as the talented, and insanely fit, dancer on Dancing with the Stars, or as a judge on Dancing with the Stars Australia, but what you may not know is that Kym Johnson is your new best friend to help you get into shape! She recently came out with her 5678 fitness program which includes exercise videos and a book that are designed to help keep you on track throughout your fitness journey.

I was able to speak with Kym about the program, what inspired her to create it, and even got some really great advice from the DWTS winner!

Kym’s inspiration for 5678 started when she began judging DWTS Australia, which meant she was no longer dancing eight hours a day and burning thousands of calories. As a result, she could no longer have the occasional hamburger without feeling the effects of it the next day. She knew she had to make a diet change, which was not going to be fun. In addition to a less active lifestyle, she was also constantly getting asked by people everywhere how they could get a great body like the celebs have at the end of the show. From all of her experience as a choreographer, she felt confident that she could create a program that everyone could enjoy and make a part of their daily routine.

That’s where 5678 comes in; where 5 stands for 5 protein sources, 6 is for the colors of the rainbow, 7 represents 7 anti-inflammatory foods, and 8 is for 8 glasses of water. This idea is based on the program that Kym worked on for herself with a nutritionist after she started judging DWTS. Having the numbers makes it an easy way to incorporate a healthier attitude into your lifestyle! The book that details 5678 has everything you need to get you inspired and started; from a menu guide to a recipe book and even stories about her time working with all of the celebrities on DWTS. Some of whom even collaborated with Kym on the book, including Florence Henderson who added a few of her own recipes. On top of other celebs contributing, she also has friends who are young moms in the book, adding their favorite recipes and giving advice for staying active during their busy days. Kym’s favorite part of the book are the gluten free pancake recipes, like the peaches and cream one, which she’ll often have for dessert. She’s also a huge fan of the tea recipes, especially the Sweet Comfort Tea which has cocoa and cinnamon- a great anti-inflammatory ingredient!

Then, there’s the 5678 DVD that is dance based and designed for anyone from a beginner to a total pro to get a good workout. The best part about the workout program is that it’s essentially interval training, meaning you go from high intensity cardio dance moves, like a jive, to moves that target your arms or legs. This means that you also get as much of a workout as you want, so if you want something low impact, all you have to do is slow down your jive! But don’t be surprised if you keep up with her pace as the workout itself will always keep you wanting to do more as you continue to learn new steps and start feeling just like the celebs on the show. Not to mention Kym’s super supportive attitude that makes you feel like you can conquer the world…or at least the dance floor!

And if you’re having trouble getting motivated, take some advice from Kym: if you’re really unmotivated, just tell yourself you’re only going to workout 15 minutes. You’ll often find that 15 minutes turns into you doing the entire workout once you’ve gotten started. This is a tactic she often used with the celebrities she trained. She would tell them that they’re just doing the first half of the routine, but found that once they did that, they would end up following through with the rest of it. Like she said, the hardest part of any workout, or anything in life for that matter, is just getting it started. But, once you do, you’ll always be happy with the end result.

This is obviously something she’s carried with her throughout her life. She started dancing at just 3 years old and ended up on DWTS Australia before she came to the US version to dance with Jerry Springer in her first US season. Although she was expecting George Clooney as her dance partner, she ended up getting some good advice from him: no matter what you’re doing in life, even if it’s just sweeping floors, just do a great job and you’ll get noticed and it’ll lead to something better. Kym has remembered this advice and it’s helped her when she’s working with a new partner each season. She notes that her partners really rely on her and have to trust her since they are put in an entirely new, and uncomfortable, situation of professional dancing. She becomes a quasi life coach to each of her dance partners, and hopes that that sort of coaching can shine through in her book and inspire readers to work hard to achieve their goals-fitness or otherwise.

And for anyone with kids looking to get into this industry, be prepared for a lot of hard work and a lot of rejection. But Kym believes that you have to have a sense of humor about it, and not let rejection get you down. You just have to remember that as long as you put in the hard work and have passion for what you do, the rest of it will fall into place! This is true not just for future dance stars, but for anyone working towards a goal.

So what’s next for this two-time DWTS winner? Well, she’s engaged to former dance partner and Shark Tank panelist Robert Herjavec and is busy planning their wedding. She says they’re thinking of dusting off their dancing shoes and having a big number at the reception. Fingers crossed we get a video!

*Photo credits: Glenn Nutley 

The post From coaching the stars to coaching you: appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

You may have heard of the most recent diet craze touted by celebrities to improve your health, lose weight, and even prevent diseases such as diabetes and cancer. The raw food diet is extreme, but also the most basic and simple diet you have heard of in a while.  The drawback, you may have a difficult time convincing your family to join in. On a positive note, meals must be a snap to prepare. You may be asking yourself, is it worth it? The answer is both yes and no and depends on what your goal is.

If you are trying to lose weight, a raw food diet could get you to your goal rather quickly. Any diet that strictly limits your choices will result in weight loss simply because you severely limit what you can eat. The raw food diet will restrict you from eating any processed and cooked foods and all meats except for sashimi, unless you’re a fan of raw meat. This leaves you with the choice of raw fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds. Fruits and vegetables are naturally low in calories and high in fiber, which fill you up quickly resulting in weight loss. Nuts and seeds are higher in calories and supply healthy fats but again, it is difficult for most people to eat huge portions in their natural state. So, if you are looking for weight loss, the diet might be the ticket. You should always be careful not to remain on a restrictive diet for a long period time because it can result in nutritional deficiencies and decreased metabolism.

If you are thinking about trying this diet because you have been told you lose nutrients and enzymes when you cook foods, then you should think again. Certain foods have more nutrients and enzymes when cooked versus raw and vice versa.  For example, Steven Schwartz from Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center reports that you absorb more lycopene from tomatoes cooked with a healthy fat, than if eaten raw (Ohio State University, 2008).  Foods such as carrots and broccoli have more bioavailable antioxidants when they are cooked, according to a report from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Culture (Miglio, Chiavaro, Visconti, Fogliano, & Pellegrini, 2008).  Some nutrients such as vitamin C are more fragile, making raw fruits and vegetables the better choice.  So what foods should you eat cooked and what foods should you eat raw? There is no right answer, except to say you should include both raw and cooked foods in your diet to get all your needed nutrients.  It is better to eat cooked broccoli than no broccoli at all.

Thirdly, should you go raw to prevent cancer, Diabetes and other diseases? The answer may be yes. It’s no surprise that processed foods are not good for our bodies. Processed foods usually contain additives and excess sugar and sodium that cause inflammation in our bodies that can lead to disease. The diet requires you to eat whole foods and keeps your hand out of the cookie jar. So, obviously you will be healthier than you if you eat all those tasty package treats.

Eating vegetables and fruits is good for you, but restricting your diet too much is likely to lead to a binge in the middle of the night. There are no black and white rules to eating, except to say everything in moderation.

References:

Miglio, C., Chiavaro, E., Visconti, A., Fogliano, V., & Pellegrini, N. (2008). Effects of Different Cooking Methods on Nutritional. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 139-147. Retrieved from http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/jf072304b

Ohio State University. (2008, 08 13). TURNING UP THE HEAT ON TOMATOES BOOSTS ABSORPTION OF LYCOPENE. Retrieved from Researchnews.osu.edu: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/lycoproc.htm

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