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58 | GRAVITAS MAGAZINE 7 Habits of Highly Unflabby Women EATING HABITS 1 Replace those oversized dinner plates with salad plates, blue ones in particular. Smaller plates trick the brain into think- ing the portion size is larger and studies have shown that blue objects suppress appetite. Calories saved per week: 500 2 Pass on the butter, pick up the olive oil. is simple substitution saves 30 calories which adds up over time. Calories saved per week: 300 3 Drink a glass of water before every meal. Dietitians claim this simple action tricks your brain into thinking you are more full. Drinking water throughout the day can result in consuming 9% less calories. Calories saved per week: 1244 4 Step away from the soda! One can of soda equals 150 calories. Enough said. Calories saved per week: 1050 5 Skip the creamer, go black. Drop the syrups and creamers and even milk. Black coffee has almost zero calories. Calories saved from 10 cups per week: 360 6 Trade that Apple Martini for a vodka and water with a splash of cranberry. e result is the same, tipsy without the wasted calories. Calories saved from five glasses per week: 645 EXERCISE HABITS 7 Get movin'. e easiest most effective habit you can take up is something you mastered even before you moved up to big girl panties. Walking helps avert diabetes and strokes, boosts your sex drive and brain function. A win-win all around la- dies. Buy a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps a day. You might want to consider adding a four-legged companion to your routine as well. A study conducted by the University of Missouri, showed that people who walked their dogs 20 minutes a day dropped an average of 14 pounds in a year. Calories burned per week: 3,500 Total Calories Saved Over a Week: 7599 THE BODY Having spent the better part of my adult life trying to maintain my weight and engage in a "healthy" lifestyle, I am always on the lookout for new and interesting fitness classes. I have two main criteria, it must not be boring and it has to show results. e latest fitness program to hit the gym circuit is called Piloxing. Not so sure about the name, but as an ardent advocate of pilates, and knowing that boxing really will kick your a**, I thought I would look into it. As the name indicates, Piloxing is a fitness program that blends pilates and boxing. It also incorporates dance with interval training to burn the maximum amount of calories and increase stamina. It was developed by the Swedish-born Viveca Jensen, a former professional dancer, who is also a trained pilates instructor. She came up with the idea of Piloxing as it combines her passions of dance and fitness. She says, "At the core of Piloxing is the principle that women are powerful and can boost their self-esteem by taking charge of their own health." Sounds good to me. Having started in California (of course), it is now taking over the gyms everywhere. Visit Piloxing.com to learn more. PILOXING By Meredith Mueller

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