Holidays are upon us again and one would just hope that the holidays would zoom past without gaining an ounce.  Nice thought if there wasn’t sugar, pies, cakes, cookies, parties, drinks, and the small granny face saying, “oh honey, just try one, you will just love this”.  How are you to survive the holidays when you are trying to control your weight?

Weight Loss Tip #1:   Use the holiday from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day as a maintenance plateau period for your current weight.  Trying to lose more weight during the holidays could lead to bitter disappointment and an attitude of “oh well, I ate that, I might as well eat another.”

Weight Loss Tip #2:  Try to eat something filling (like a snack bowl of brown rice) before attending a cocktail party, where the passed hors d’oeuvres quickly snack you into caloric overload.  Office parties, holiday gatherings seem to be filled with either junk food or high calorie foods, so if you eat something before you go that is filling, you will be less tempted to overeat.

Weight Loss Tip #3:  Avoid or limit the sugar temptation.  Sugar highs or sugar lows really hurt your body as it tries to balance the glycemic index.  Sugar tolerance affects the glucose in the body, affecting mood swings and your body’s ability to process the sugar.

Weight Loss Tip #4: Drinking the sweet drinks will pack on more empty calories than eating a piece of pie.  Limit the alcohol to drinks that are low in calories, like vodka, or gin.  Try to avoid the mixers like soda, juices, or other high calorie drinks.

Weight Loss Tip #5: Eat five to six meals a day with as many thermic foods as you can eat.  What is thermic?  Food is fuel and look at the thermogenic effect of the foods that you are eating.  This means that the food burns more calories processing than is actually contained in the food.  Three great examples are: Broccoli, Cayenne Pepper, and Ice Water.

As you head straight into the holidays full force with the Thanksgiving, “big meal” kickoff, keep your perspective on eating as fuel and energy for the body.  Don’t be tempted unless it something you really love, then remember that a small bite will keep your taste bud curiosity satisfied.  If you are going to overeat, remember to keep it thermogenic.  For more information on thermogenic foods, review the information at FITworks.

Get Beautiful for the Holidays

Get Beautiful Skin with the Non Surgical Facelift

Steps of the non-surgical facelift
These phases of the non-surgical facelift are the result of nearly 20 years of experience designing proven micro-current technology:

Benefits
Using micro-current facial techniques in conjunction with galvanic current for product penetration, this unique treatment works to re-educate facial muscles, reducing line/wrinkles and improving the skin’s tone and texture.

• Diminished fine lines around the eyes
• A lift to heavy jowls and cheeks
• Improved definition in jaw line
• Super-hydrated skin
• Re-education of facial muscles
• Enhanced collagen and elastin production
• Stimulation of both blood and lymph circulation
• Softening of deep lines along the mouth and nose

Micro-current treatments move well beyond traditional skin care by working to improve both the client’s skin and muscle tone Some of the benefits from this comprehensive treatment include:

Muscle Re-education
Repeated contractions from facial expressions can cause muscles to become shortened and create the appearance of a furrowed brow or wrinkles around the eyes. At the same time, gravity and the underutilization of muscles in other areas of the face can cause a slack or droopy appearance. Treatments target these areas with micro-current to help reverse the signs of aging and replace it with an amazing new radiance and skin that looks even and flawless.

Dermal Nutrition
Our systems utilize a galvanic current to deeply penetrate specially formulated products into the skin to instantly reduce fine, dry lines. Delivering products in this manner is very effective as a super moisturizer at the end of the treatment, leaving the skin with a glorious healthy glow. This step can also be utilized with specialty products to address problems
such as acne or hyperpigmentation. Utilizing this technique to feed the skin improves elasticity, maximizes hydration, and helps reduce, or even eliminate, certain visible signs of aging.

Increased Collagen and Elastin
Exposure to environmental assaults and the natural aging process cause the collagen and elastin that keeps our skin resilient to slowly break down. As we age, the skin’s ability to replace these essential materials diminishes and more gaps and irregularities develop in the collagen mesh, which can lead to wrinkles. Micro-current treatments have been shown to amplify the body’s own natural production of collagen and elastin to successfully lift away the look of deep lines and shallow wrinkles.

Increased Circulation of Both Blood and Lymph
Micro-current treatments encourage the proper circulation of blood and lymph, which are extremely important elements in the condition, color, and overall health of the skin. Once an increase in blood and lymph flow is achieved, the cells receive vital nutrients and oxygen more quickly and cell metabolism speeds-up. Such stimulation of the blood flow will produce healthier and firmer skin.

This is our last month at the introductory price of $1599 for a series of 10.  Get your skin looking younger, tighter, firmer, healthier.

1. Hydrate the Skin. The sun and humidity have robbed our bodies of water.  Every day you lose water from T.E.W.L. or transepidermal water loss,  as the moisture in your skin evaporates into the air.  Athletes especially runners or tennis players often have dehydrated skin from losing too much water from humidity.
2. Exfoliate Gently.  Because the sun, humidity, salt air, chlorine have dried your skin, compacting the dead skin cells on the surface, they will need to be exfoliated, so that the skin can absorb new nutrients.  Applying moisturizer to skin that will not absorb … well, need I tell you…it is a good waste of moisturizer.  We love Environ’s Derma-Lac Lotion, with a 17% lactic acid.
3. Pack on the Vitamins. In addition to exfoliation, add vitamins back to the skin…the sun and air have robbed the skin of precious vitamins that the skin needs to bring healthy skin cells to the surface.  We like Vitamin A blends the best.  Internal vitamins are as important as external.  Make sure your vitamins are bioavailable and packed with what your body needs.
4. Plenty of Sleep.  Sleep is so important for fall beauty.  Getting your sleep–it may be 4 hours, it may be 8 hours.  You need it for keeping your body in top shape.
5. Water.  Water. Water. 70% of your body is water.  Drink what you are made of.

Fall back into beauty with basic beauty steps.  Take care of you…YOU fall into beauty when you take care of basics…plus smile!

Click here to see the Slim n Trim Body Detox Wrap

Benefits of Weight Loss Body Wraps

Depending on the ingredients used in the body wrap, the benefits to the body wrap treatment can be numerous.  No matter what type of ingredients that are used, the wrap will always detoxify the body.  Other affects to the body can be hydration, healing, weight loss, fat loss, and exfoliation.

Let’s focus on the weight loss aspect of body wraps.  While historically most wraps have touted weight loss as the number one reason to wrap, the real truth is that most of these so-called weight loss wraps actually dehydrate the body causing the weight loss to be a temporary loss of water.  The loss of water is the result of covering up the body with a wrap that signals to the brain to send down excess serums.  This perspiration process is what most body wraps produce as a weight loss.  The results are temporary and can actually harm the body through dehydration.

Weight loss wraps need to reduce the fat cells to be a permanent “result” wrap.  The wrap needs to contain ingredients that absorb into the skin.  If it is really going to work for weight loss, it has to reduce the fat cells and it must absorb into the lower layers of the skin (the subcutaneous skin layer).

1. First, the molecules in the lotion must be small enough to be absorbed into the skin and move to the lower layers of the skin where the fat cells reside.
2. The wrap must increase the circulation of the cells so that toxins can be eliminated.  The faster the cell cycle, the cell’s toxins will be thrown off, but need to be eliminated.
3. Water must be used to eliminate the toxins through the body’s own “waste” system.  The body is very brilliant in that all of the “waste” systems work very hard to eliminate toxins.  The kidneys and the liver are just two great examples of the body’s smart elimination system.  This system requires water and a lot of it.
4. Fat didn’t appear overnight, but fat cells can be shrunk with correct, synergistic ingredients and the correct method of wrapping.  The more occlusive the wrap will produce the best results with weight loss.

Body wraps are a targeted method to jump-start the weight loss process.  Fat loss can be achieved with some body wraps.  Use these body wraps as a tool to weight loss. It is not a quick snap your fingers fat loss, but an ongoing tool to permanent fat and weight loss.  Put it into your arsenal of fat loss tools, just like a better diet, eating right, exercise, and supplements.  All of these tools lead to weight loss and thus a healthier you.

Reduced Belly Fat

Belly fat is a phenomenon that grabs most of us at birth and continues until we are well into our old age.  Even as a baby, eating, growing, and using all of our food for energy, the belly bulge and the chubby legs will continue into middle age and beyond.  What can we do about belly fat?  Can we really get rid of the old spare tire?  This article focuses on the following key areas in determining:

1.  Why do we carry fat around the abdominal area?

2.  Are there surgical alternatives to belly fat?

3. Is there a way to reduce belly fat naturally?

Fat is the body’s mechanism to protect itself from starvation and lack of fuel.  When the body receives too much food, it will store the food and save it for a rainy day (or a day when the body does not eat).  The body is a fine tuned machine which needs energy to fuel activity.  If the body does not eat, the body dips into the fuel reserves “fat” to supply energy.  Once the body finally eats, the food eaten goes directly to fat, as it needs to replenish the fat supplies.  This is why it is so critical to eat often and eat the right thermogenic foods.  You are born with only so many fat cells….they either get larger or smaller based on your metabolism, what you eat, and how often you eat.

Why do we carry fat around the abdominal area?

The body is such an amazing machine.  The body’s defense mechanisms are so special that the body can compensate for bad food, and other environmentally bad effects, as one body organ will take up the slack for another system in the body.  So if you eat bad food for years and you are diabetic, the body will one day exhaust all of its resources and not be able to handle the diabetic/bad food combination, resulting in serious illness.  The same happens with the accumulation of fat in the body.  When the intake of food is greater than the energy expenditure, the result is fat.  Initially, the body will place the fat in a place that is easy to get to should the body need that storage for energy.  As the body puts on more fat, the storage areas extend to the limbs.  Women and men will also carry fat in different areas due to the need for women to provide nourishment during pregnancy.  Fat is also accumulated around organs as the body’s way of protecting the critical functions of the body.

Are there surgical alternatives to belly fat?

Yes, if you are up to the pain, and the expense, you can try liposuction or a tummy tuck to get rid of the excess belly fat.  Both alternatives, while not cheap, provide results, albeit much pain and not to mention the expense.  The cost of liposuction will run anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000; the recovery period is extensive, and when done, there are no guarantees.  A girlfriend of mine still has bumps and lumps on her abdomen from a botched liposuction.  Additionally, many clients will look great after their initial liposuction only to continue eating “fatty” foods and years later the belly fat is back.

Is there a way to reduce belly fat naturally?

Yes, you can reduce belly fat by creating natural lipolysis.  Special cleansing herbs, botanical plant extracts, essential oils, and detoxifying ingredients work together to stimulate the body’s natural fat dissolving mechanism.  Key to this stimulus is to drink water to flush out the fat toxins before they settle back into the body.   The ingredients are actually absorbed into the skin where the molecule is small enough to change the subcutaneous fatty cell layer.  After absorption, the fat in the cells start the process of softening and liquefying.  This takes anywhere from one hour to four hours depending on the ingredients used and how well the body absorbed the formula.  Sweat and perspiration does not assist with this process, because it will interfere with the absorption.  Next, the toxins need to be eliminated from the body through detoxifying ingredients like seaweed.   Water is extremely important for this process and it is necessary to drink at least half your weight in ounces of water to eliminate all of the toxins and maximize results.

Great results can be combined using at home wraps with a spa infrared body treatment.  Clients have lost over 3 dress sizes in 3 months….yes 1 dress size per month.

For more information on reducing belly fat naturally, resources include www.BestWeightLossWrap.com or www.1BodyWrap.com.

Having Great Skin!

Look at the color of the skin…does the body have oxygen, look at the texture of the skin…does the body have water, look at the elasticity of the skin…is the body getting nutrients.

Why is Skin Health So Important? It starts at the cellular level.

• Skin Cells- when a cell receives nourishment it stimulates other cells.  All cells have memory specific to their type and function.  Cells copy each other, which is why you want to have healthy cells.  If the cells in the dermis layer are weak and undernourished due to the body’s lack of feeding the right nutrients, they are not able to fight mutations on the epidermis.  As new cells emerge, they take on the memory of the surrounding cells.  That is what we do as estheticians today.  We are changing the memory of the cells, providing nutrients and encouraging healthy cell growth.

What affects the skin?

• The skin is the body’s largest organ.   It is an eliminating organ.  If the liver, kidney, spleen and lymphatic system cannot eliminate the toxins, the next organ is the skin.  Toxins are poisons and the body needs to eliminate them. That is one of the ways the body has pimples.   The skin provides immune protection for the whole body.
• Diet. Foods and nutritional deficiencies affect skin. The diet can provoke or worsen many skin conditions including psoriasis and eczema.
• Langerhan cells which help the white blood cells (T-Cells) destroy.
• Improper diet, bad sleeping habits, no exercise, mental anguish, all give tell-tale signs on the surface. 4 pillars of health.
  1. Mindset
  2. Diet
  3. Exercise
  4. Rest
• For example, a rash. What do you assume?
  1. Rubbed up against something?
  2. Rash could also mean a malfunctioning liver or kidney or the wrong diet.

  What is a free radical

It is a cell that has gone “toxic”.  They wreak havoc by damaging DNA, corroding cell membranes and killing cells. Antioxidants help stop the damage from free radicals by neutralizing them.  Once neutralized, the free radicals and the damaged cells are absorbed by the body’s macrophage – which eliminates them permanently from the body.  Researchers believe that free radicals are the underlying effect of aging, and body deterioration in healthy and sick people.  Free radicals are undeniably the root of all inflammatory and degenerative conditions.

Skin is the MIRROR of the inside of the body.

• Skin does not become dry without a reason, and you do not have a teen with acne just because, nor do you contract conditions or diseases because it is your turn or luck.  Healthy skin performs 22 functions every second of your life and one of those is to warn you that something is wrong.

• As you look at someone’s skin, you have to determine the root/cause to establish a treatment plan.  The body works like a wonderful machine.  It all works together.  So that means that when you see a bump, pimple, rash or rough skin, or eczema, dermatitis, or vitiligo, there is a reason or root/cause for this.  Everything that person does, eats, wears, thinks about, touches, where they have been, will lead you to answers about their skin.  The skin reflects what is going on inside.  The skin is an indicator of serious and minor internal problems.  For example, Vitamin and nutritional deficiencies can cause acne, eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis.  You can also look at the skin and tell liver disease, high cholesterol, drug usage, and overuse of alcohol.

• You are looking at the client’s total health.  Water and nutrition are very important to the skin.  We are esthetician, and you should indicate to your client that they need a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and for anti-aging, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Fish Liver Oil, Vitamin A (Retinol), Vitamin C, and Vitamin E.

Understanding the skin means understanding the whole body.   Having great skin can be genetic, but your skin is really the fortune teller of your total health.  Having facials and skin treatments goes tandem with taking care of YOU!

Brows are just like lips, some are thin, some are thick.  The key to beautiful

Celebrity Brows--Getting the Arch

brows is taking the brows you were born with and giving them the celebrity arch.

1. Stop the random plucking
2. Let brows grow for a couple of weeks to see your real shape
3. You have a strong side & a weak side for eyes & brows.  Match the two.  Don’t let one be too strong or one be too weak.
4. Great brows are a combination of waxing and very strategic plucking, brushing, trimming, and arching.  Yes, find an expert.
5. Where should your brows start, arch & end?  Your brow expert should know and so should you.
6. The side of your nose is the key to your brow shape.  Use a nail file or pencil to measure the key points of the brow.
7. Wax only the strays.  Leave the precise structure and shape up to the tweezers.  Waxing on the top of the brow is great for providing a beautiful detailed arch.
8. Brush down for trimming, only if absolutely necessary.  Gently trim while brushing down.  If you trim while brushing up, you may trim the hairs that are the fillers for giving shape to the brows.
9. Use a pencil or colored gel that match your brows to fill in the shape.
10. Finish the celebrity brow look with a stiff brush to comb the brows up and blend the brow color.

Beautiful brows need attention every three to four weeks.

Yes, toxins in the body can slow fat loss and your metabolism as they become trapped in the fatty tissues and

Fat Loss Body Wraps are a Great Way to lose Fat & Speed Up Metabolism

cells in the body.  The toxins come from the pollutants in the air, your diet (please eat real food), or the environment.  You can bloat or retain fluid as the body works hard to protect the cells from the toxins.  When the body starts to trap the toxins in the cells, it will also trap the fat and hold it there creating a fat storage cycle.  When your body is acidic from too many sodas, or other “acid” foods, you cannot burn fat causing your body not to function optimally; resulting in more illnesses as well as continuing to store the fat.  In order to lose the fat, your body needs to get rid of toxins.

Where to start to rid your body of fat and toxins?

Immediately start on balancing the Ph of the body.  The body likes to be alkaline to prevent cancer and other diseases.  Make sure you are on a great bioavailable vitamin which contains minerals to support the major organs and your brain functions. If you do not eat 8 fruits and vegetables a day, try a greens supplement that alkalines your body.  It will also decrease inflammation and start the detoxification process.

Start a detoxification process through an at home wrap or a slimming infrared body wrap in the spa. Slimming Infrared Body Wraps are a safe, healthful method to slim down, improve body shape and visibly tighten skin. They increase the blood supply, stimulating the metabolism and helping to rid your body of the harmful toxins and fat that can prevent weight loss.

If you smoke, drink alcohol, drink sodas, eat sugar, or have salt in your diet, your body is holding in toxins. The toxins can prevent weight loss and fat loss.

Do body wraps really work to remove fat and toxins?

Body wraps use to be compression wraps or “sweating” wraps to rid the body of toxins.   This was great for a couple of days, but then the body would return to its normal state after one week as the weight and inches lost with a compression wrap is from dehydration.  Additionally, the old way of wrapping included being cocooned, jumping around, or numerous ace bandages.

Today, wrapping and detoxifying the body has stepped into the year 2010.  We have learned that infrared technology can help penetrate the body deeply to promote blood circulation and it warms the body from the inside out.  Saunas, clay or seaweed wraps will warm the body from the outside in promoting perspiring to cool the body.  Infrared heat takes about 20 minutes for the heat to penetrate the skin. During the remaining 20-30 minutes of the Infrared body wrap session, the heat rises and gets underneath the fat cells, including cellulite. It is now heating the body as it begins breaking down the body fat and releasing the fat stores and toxins into the blood stream and sweat glands for removal from your body. Infrared jumpstarts the metabolism, which breaks down the body fat and releases into the bloodstream for the body to use up as energy or by drinking water, it is eliminated from the body entirely.

My budget is tight, can I wrap at home?

New to the market are targeted wrap applicators which can be used on areas including the abs, thighs, arms, knees, neck or back. The wrap is infused with ingredients that support the body’s ability to get rid of fat, starting the process of lipolysis and increasing the circulation in the body.  With targeted applicator wraps combined with the infrared technology, you receive the inch loss and contouring, plus ridding the body of toxic substances.

Even now, it is not entirely clear how The Ultimate Body Applicator works but “The Tape Measure Doesn’t Lie”.  For those of us who are logical thinkers, it is something of a jolt to the imagination.  However, the proof can be seen on the faces of those who try it.  In a short 45 minutes up to 90% of our users experience firmer, tightened, more toned skin along with measureable inch loss.  And, of course, there are some who insist it has produced shocking results.

The Ultimate Body Applicator Secret

The Ultimate Body Applicator is blended with natural ingredients and then mixed together using a 3-step process into an extraordinary formula.  To activate the formula and release its key ingredients, a cloth delivery system is used.  The process takes 45 minutes.  The Ultimate Body Applicator can be placed on any area of the body that you wish to tone, tighten and firm.  The skin’s ability to renew itself is greatly enhanced.

The concept of spot-slimming is based on complex science but is elegantly simple. Unlike liposuction, The Ultimate Body Applicator does not remove adipose cells from a fatty area. Instead, it promotes the depletion of excess fat and toxins stored in adipose cells in the treated area. As a result, engorged cells shrink back to their normal size when the fat and toxins leave. The Ultimate Body Applicator then facilitates burning of excess fat.

The Ultimate Body Applicator can keep your adipose cells lean, indefinitely, and you are always in control. The prioritization of problem areas and timing of treatment is up to you. Furthermore, there is no deprivation with our method of spot-slimming. Targeted results can occur without any change in your eating and activity patterns (but of course results are faster and more sustainable when combined with a proper nutrition and fitness program).  Water is recommended to flush out the toxins, at least 75 ounces daily.

The targeted wraps can be used at home as an at home wrap or in between the infrared body wraps to further assist the body to lose the inches, the fat.   The targeted wraps help the body in becoming more alkaline, regenerating tissues, decreasing the inflammation resulting in progressive results and body transformations. For those looking to trim the fat and the budget, the targeted at home wraps are available for at home use once or twice a week.    Call the spa at 561-404-7670 for more information.

12 Week Nutritional Weight Loss System

Why you might ask would we offer this?  We see women and men everyday struggling with weight issues, what to eat, what not to eat, on the latest fad diet, or not eating at all.

This 12 week course combines the best of several nutritional systems into one, easy to follow plan designed just for you.  We could never find just one system that worked, so several weight control and lifestyle philosophies will be followed with some basic premises being:

• Muscle vs. Fat…where should I be?
• What is Good Health?
• What is a good waistline?
• What should I eat on the go?
• Feelings about meal substitutes
• What happens to your body when you do not eat.
• The excuse of hormones
• The excuse of menopause
• Possible Allergies or Sensitivities
• Craving the Foods Our Body Has Been Chemically Needing

The coursework follows this 12 weeks:

1. Stop Dieting & Live Your Life
2. Jump Start Your Success, Fat vs. Muscle
3. Getting a Healthy Mind and Body
4. Supplements that May Strengthen Your Body
5. Healthy Kitchen Basics #1
6. Healthy Kitchen Basics #2
7. How To Read Labels
8. Calorie is not a Calorie
9. Plateaus & Your Metabolism
10. Calorie is not a Calorie – The Sweet Stuff
11. Calorie is not a Calorie – Good Fats, Bad Fats
12. Stress & Your Weight, plus Results to Last a Lifetime

The goal of the course is of  “course” to lose weight, but more importantly to get healthy.  Come get healthy with us in 12 weeks, starting September 8th,  at 6:30 PM.  Pre-registration is necessary by calling 561-404-7670 or e-mailing: Info@BellaReinaSpa.com.

I was thinking that maybe it would be helpful if I wrote down some of the things I have thought/felt about the Non-surgical facelift experience that may help other clients They are not in any real order- -just random thoughts.

1. I have looked at my skin and thought I look like I have some color (glow) as if, for lack of a better way to put it, I was  “kissed by the sun”.  Meaning I have a little glow/rosy cheeks like I got a little bit of sun.  Instead of how before when I just thought I looked pale.  I have made a lot of effort not to get any sun so I know it was from the treatment.
2. People have commented to me that I “look good” or “am glowing” or that the color of my shirt was making me look good.  I know it was the treatment.
3. I wear my hair back a lot because of my job but I was not happy with it back but never realized why until my skin started looking better – Now I don’t mind my hair back because my skin looks so good I don’t need to hide it with my hair.
4. I cannot get over the lack of lines around my eyes and my mouth.  I think you get used to how you look and never realize that you could look better and it really was so easy.
5. I also rarely ever felt comfortable in public without some make up on.  Not just mascara but a base and blush etc.,  Recently my skin has looked so good that I have gone out without make up on and felt I looked great.

The Non Surgical Facelift Experience:

Did not hurt

At first I kind of felt like my face had a “workout”.  The muscles were being challenged by the machine and they were a little sore (the good kind of sore you get in other muscles in your body when you exercise).