1️⃣. Do a blood test to find out what you need to focus on. Based on the results, you can set clear goals and start a plan of attack.

2️⃣. Start cleaning your body by taking juices that contain: celery, pineapple, nopal and grapefruit preferably without straining so that your body takes advantage of all the fibers in your juice.

3️⃣. It is recommended to exercise increasing the activity little by little, so that your progress is controlled and your improvement is steady and effective.

4️⃣. Food is essential! Always aim to take in three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and try to have a couple of snacks in between. The key is to have healthy meals and not meals that will keep you away from your goals.

5️⃣. Drink water and eliminate sodas. Doing this one change will be your greatest ally in achieving your goal. Your intake of water should be between 8-12 cups per day.

6️⃣. Try to eliminate dairy as much as possible since dairy is usually high in saturated fat and it raises bad cholesterol. There are alternatives that can replace dairy and actually raise the good cholesterol such as: Milk from nuts like Almond Milk, or even Coconut Milk.

7️⃣. Avoid the consumption of flours and replace them with whole grain. There are many products out there that are delicious and are made with whole grain.

Many people use the scale and BMI (body mass index) as an indicator for determining their healthy, fitness weight.But the drawback of using a scale and BMI chart alone is that neither assess your body composition and cannot tell how much of your total weight is comprised of water, fat, or muscle.For those not familiar with BMI, it uses your height and weight to determine if you fall into one of the following categories:

• Underweight: Your BMI is less than 18.5
• Healthy weight: Your BMI is 18.5 to 24.9
• Overweight: Your BMI is 25 to 29.9
• Obese: Your BMI is 30 or higher

This BMI method is unreliable for those with a lot of lean muscle. At 5’9”, 185 pounds, and 10% body-fat, the BMI chart suggest I’m overweight with a BMI of 27.3

Body composition is the proportion of fat and lean tissue in your body and a better indication of your health and fitness. Healthy body composition is one that has a lower percentage of body fat and a higher percentage of lean tissue, which includes muscle, bones, and organs. Body fat percent is a measurement of body composition identifying how much of the weight of your body is fat and how much is lean tissue. The health and fitness ranges for body fat differ for men and women.

Bioelectrical impedance is the method used by handheld units and by BIA body fat scales which sends a small electrical current through your body. Fat, water and lean tissue affect the current difference to give the reading of fat percentage, but I haven’t found one of these units that accurately measured my body-fat percentage yet. Many factors may affect accuracy such as:

• Hydration
• Fitness level
• Recent physical activities
• Recent food and beverage consumption

A DEXA scan or dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan is performed in a medical setting and it’s used to measure fat, muscle and bone composition.

Hydrostatic weighing is a method that requires you to be fully submerged in water. This method is suggested to be one of the most accurate, but locations with these tanks are few, and it could be costly if you plan on tracking progress.

Taking skinfold measurements is a method often used by fitness trainers or as part of a weight loss program. Calipers are used to take measurements at different parts of your body and input into a body-fat calculator. Skinfold measurement is the method I used when preparing for bodybuilding shows. I also used it for monitoring my clients’ body compositions. Although studies have suggested a plus-or-minus of 3.5% accuracy, it worked well for my show preparations and was useful for tracking improvements with my clients. This method of body fat measurement is the least expensive and easy to perform. All you need is a caliper, a scale, and access to a skin fold calculator or body-fat calculator, which can be found online easily. There are many manufacturers of calipers, but I found that the Slim Guide Skinfold Caliper to be most comfortable to use. It has a trigger operation with a pistol-grip handle. The jaw pressure is automatically adjusted to provide consistent, reliable pressure.