Get Slinky for Galas

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SHAPE UP SEASON

If squeezing into a slinky little cocktail dress for upcoming holiday galas seems impossible, Angie Lustrick can get you on track.  A certified nutritionist, personal trainer and owner of Angie's World in Riverside, Lustrick's book, Body by Angie, lays out the details for turning your bod into a fat-burning machine.  She knows from experience how to jump-start a sleepy engine.  After graduating from UC Riverside with a degree in biology, a sedentary career high in doughnuts and business lunches packed pounds onto her 5'2" frame.  When she was diagnosed with hypoglycemia, she hired a personal trainer and joined a "transformation competition" that included a $10,000 prize and a trip to the Arnold Classic Bodybuilding Show in Ohio.  She adopted the attitude that she already won and should act like a physcially fit winner.  "My mental strength was solid," she says.  On the last day for the judges to notify winners, Lustrick got the call.  She'd won.  "I had a new perspective," she says.  But it begins with the belief that you can do it, she adds.  Lustrick says you have plenty of time to drop some pounds and firm some muscle before dressing up for the holidays.  Here's how to get started:

  • Ditch the fast food.
  • Watch the sugar.
  • Eat quality protein throughout the day.
  • Exercise, but pick something you enjoy so you'll stick with it.
  • Don't give up--persistence pays off.