It’s sad but true that the holidays will be upon us before we know it, and if you’re hoping to slim down or shape up before the holiday parties (and food fests) begin, now’s the time to do it.

But you won’t be alone on your journey. In fact, recent magazines offer tons of advice and inspiration, from stars and regular folks, on how to do just that.

Healthy tips from Katherine and Brooke

The October issue of Shape magazine includes insights on getting fit and staying that way from Katherine Heigl and Brooke Shields. Heigl keeps her body looking lean and firm with the help of kettleball workouts, as well as by walking her dogs.

Shields offers advice for making a healthy life including being prepared for those days when things don’t go perfectly, being inspired by your vision of fitness, rather than how someone else looks, and eating for energy rather than counting calories.

She says she will lay off the bread, pasta and desserts when she needs to lose weight, and that spinning is the only exercise that seems to work for her to slim down.

Hungry Girl meets Woman’s World

Lisa Lillien might not be a household name, but the Hungry Girl is a star to us, and in the October 6 issue of Woman’s World she shares some secrets from her book about losing weight through healthier substitutions for junky food.

She isn’t about subbing potato chips for rice cakes. Instead, she offers recipes for chili cheese nachos made with turkey chili and fat-free cheese, “de-pudged” pigs in a blanket with reduced-fat ingredients, onion rings coated with high-fiber cereal, even a cookie and ice cream shake with only 160 calories and 2.5 grams of fat.

Lillien herself lost 25 pounds eating this way, while another fan featured in the magazine lost 40 pounds and her husband lost 25.

Tons of toning tips from Self

If getting fitter is your plan, Self magazine’s September issue and related online program are for you. The magazine has a month’s worth of plans for people who want to drop eight pounds, tone up without cardio, lose baby weight or be able to run three miles without feeling like they’re going to die.

The programs include health tips, workout plans and sample exercises geared to each goal, as well as a simple eating plan that offers about 1,600 calories a day for those looking to lose weight. Sign up online and you can win fun prizes through the end of the year, too.

The magazine also offers tips for busting through fitness ruts, such as doing more cardio to flatten a muffin top, mixing up your workout to lose more weight, and adding more weight to get sleek arms. The mag also recommends ramping up the intensity if you can only work out 20 minutes or so each day.

They also checked out some fitness gear from infomercials and say the Perfect Pushup is a great tool for people who already have good form, a rebounder is a fun, if pricey, workout, and doing crunches on a ball does make them more effective, but you don’t need to buy a special ball for that. They suggest staying away from The Bean, an ab workout that’s more like sitting in a low rocking chair.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 and is filed under Celebrities and politicians, Celebrity Diets, Celebrity Weight Loss Secrets, Diet and food media, Exercise and fitness, Motivation and mental. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.