Chica, have you noticed how slim and fabulous Chiquis Rivera has been looking these days? She's been showing off an hourglass figure that sort of reminds me of Sofia Vergara's famous bod. Well guess what, that's no coincidence. Both of these lovely ladies have been getting a little help from celebrity nutritionist and weight loss expert, Alejandro Chaban. In fact, he's the genius behind Chiquis' 30-pound weight drop. So what exactly is this man's secret? How does he get these gorgeous Latinas looking so good?
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Alejandro has a pretty good track record when it comes to getting his clients in top notch shape and Chiquis and Sofia are hard core of evidence of that. Seriously, did you see Chiquis' February 2014 People en Español cover? The girl looked AMAZING! So I did a little digging and found the scoop to how exactly Alejandro gets his ladies looking so healthy, so slim and in such a short period of time. Check them out!
Eating healthy doesn't have to be boring: Alejandro is all about making healthy eating as fun and enjoyable as possible. "Eating right does not have to be boring," he mentions on his site. "With the Yes You Can! Diet Plan you will be able to eat tacos, arroz con pollo, arepas parrilladas (BBQ), pasta, burgers and all of those delicious dishes that we all love." For Alejandro it's all about making those meals you love, but using healthy ingredients as well as controlling your portion sizes.
Use the right ingredients: According to Alejandro you could still eat a lot of the Latin foods you love, you just have to be careful what kinds of ingredients you use. He has a beef fajitas recipe on his site where he uses whole wheat tortillas, beef sirloin, red onions, green bell pepper, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and salsa. No cheese and no sour cream!
Dance: "I was never a big fan of the gym but one thing that I grew up with and love is dancing," he told Latina.com. "This is a great part of our culture as Latinos and we don't even realize that it's one of the best cardio exercises there is." Alejandro claims that dancing salsa or merengue for just an hour can help you to easily burn up to 500 calories. How fun is that?
Enjoy the holidays: Who says you can't party on Halloween? Alejandro claims that if you eat your healthy meals, snacks and protein shakes while exercising on a regular basis you'll have a little leeway to cheat on special occasions or holidays. "Take Halloween as a Cheat meal
Be careful with sugar consumption: "Our body needs sugar as glucose (digestion of complex carbohydrates and good fats)," he wrote. "Sugar–refined flour, and junk food is what we don't need. They decrease the brain's activity. Also, receptors that regulate appetite and fat loss do no work properly. Little by little they are reducing their activity, so you need more quantities to feel satisfied." So try to cut down on your sugar consumption and eat only complex carbs like brown rice, quinoa or sweet potatoes. Keep your Latin flavors: "To keep all the Latin flavors that I love, I found a way to cut calories from heavy sauces and dressings and change them for flavorful ingredients that took flavors to another level," he told Latina.com. "Jalapeno or Serrano peppers are a great way to give your food flavor and they also help you speed up your metabolism because of the extra work your body has to do to "fight back" the spice. He also recommends adding homemade guacamole or pico de gallo to your meals. Image via Corbis/Yesyoucandietplan.com
