Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Exercises To Get Rid Of Belly Fat


Do you have a large belly? Why not do some easy exercises to lose that belly fat. Exercises are still one of the best methods to get rid of belly fat. Doing exercises has more advantages than just doing a diet. Besides feeling more fit one will learn discipline and enhance one's stamina by doing these exercises.



Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you have developed this belly after having a child, or maybe you have always had it? Losing the last 10 pounds seems like an impossible task. Whatever the cause, belly fat seems like the final hurdle between final weight loss. I know what it feels like when it is a battle going on between you and the fat cells. Fortunately we know more and more these days about the causes and solutions and this will lead hopefully to tighter abs and flatter tummies.


There are specific exercises to get rid of belly fat.  You might have heard that specific training exercises do not have effect on losing weight at certain areas, but new research says this information is outdated. According to the Mayo Clinic website, there are new studies that show stomach exercises do have a great effect on visceral fat. Visceral fat is the fat deep below our skin and surrounding the organs. This fat is actually more dangerous and is associated with  a variety of diseases.

A good exercise is this one:
Lie on your back with your feet up in the air. Reach for your toes toward the spy while raising your bottom off the ground. Do 20 to 25 reps, rest for 30 seconds and then repeat the exercise. Do three "sets" to help with the lower portion of the bulge. If you have trouble going 20 or 25 reps start with a lower number and increase if you are able to do more.

Then get on all fours, holding your back nice and straight. Allow your tummy to hang down and slowly pull it up like there is a string inside your belly button and someone is pulling you up. Now hold for about 10 seconds while still breathing. Then release, rest for 10 seconds and repeat. This is an exercise you can also do while you are sitting or standing like waiting to pick up your child from school or in the grocery check out.

The other fat, subcutaneous fat, is the fat that people are more concerned with when they think about their appearance. No fat is great for you, but the fat right below your skin is definitely less dangerous than the visceral fat around your organs. Unfortunately, it’s what makes us look fat.

So, how do we get rid of that? Subcutaneous fat will most likely not respond to stomach crunches and crazy ab routines. Instead do a lot of cardio, aerobic exercise and combine that with stretching and strength training. Think pilates-type long stretches and time on the elliptical.

Some of the best stretching and lengthening can be done in a pool. You can really feel long, and lean and move some muscles more than you ever have before in a safe environment. Hold the side of the pool with your hands, put your head down so your neck is straight with your back and just reach all the way through your body. Imagine you are trying to touch the other side of the pool.

For an out of the pool exercise, hold your hands above your head and gently stretch backwards, feeling your entire core stretch out. You can also do this exercise with bands for some resistance.

Remember that besides doing exercises to get rid of your excess weight that a proper diet is a major component to weight loss. Try to limit sugar and refined food and instead eat fruits, vegetables and whole foods. This along with strengthening your core and losing the fat above it, you will see your abs pop through in no time.



Monday, September 10, 2012

Exercise For Belly Fat

Do you want to get rid of your belly fat?  There are several factors that are important when you want to lose those extra few inches around your waist.  Get a proper diet without compromising on nutritional value, enough rest and good exercise are a good way to lose those pounds for good.

The best exercises for belly fat weight loss - beat the bulge!


Many people assume that in order to get rid of belly fat and having a well toned flat stomach, they have to work hard and have to do crunches, sit-ups and other difficult fitness training. Or they believe the stories that it is possible to get a six pack abs with just 5 minutes of daily workout.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The best way to get rid of your belly fat is simply by just changing your eating habits, and doing cardiovascular exercise.  The companies who are trying to sell the fitness equipment are not for losing fat but to tone muscle. Toning muscles is useless without losing the fat that is covering it. Simply because nobody is able to see your beautiful toned muscles.

So the easiest thing you can do to burn away the body fat is by changing your diet. You can increase your metabolism by eating more frequent and smaller meals, this will help you burn off excess fat. The reason why it works like this, is because our ancestors used to live in caves and hunted for foods. Our bodies are designed to store fat for future use, when the hunt for food was not successful.

When you just eat 2-3 times a day your body will store the fat and also slow down your metabolism to conserve energy, because it will not know when the next meal will come.
You can trick your body into burning more fat instead of storing it by eating small meals 5-6 times a day. Because it thinks it is getting regular meals it will start burning fat instead of storing it.

Also no exercise is going to work it you are eating the wrong foods. But you do not have to make immediate and complete overhaul of what you eat. Start by eating wholegrain bread instead of white and wholemeal pasta and brown rice. Try and cut down on saturated fats, sweets, cakes and pastries. For a snack try some fruit instead of potato chips.

To be successful with losing weight you will have to combine your new healthy eating habit with some fat burning workouts. By doing cardiovascular exercises combined with a lower calorie intake will help you  burn off the extra pounds and get rid of that belly fat. When your body is consistently burning off more calories than you are putting in, weight-loss in inevitable.

So now you know what the best exercise is for getting rid of belly fat. Start today by doing some cardio exercise in your spare time instead of sitting and watching TV. Also when you make your next grocery trip, remember that just a few changes will make a huge difference and will start to pay off!





Friday, September 7, 2012

Fat Belly Pictures

Do you also have a large belly like those depicted in some of these fat belly pictures? Would you like to lose stomach fat? Read the article below with tips how to lose weight.



Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net



How to lower stomach fat levels to create a more sexier slim version of you. 


Many people, especially women, struggle with the problem of unsightly stomach fat. A lot of women in otherwise perfect shape struggle with a huge bulge below the waist. They try stomach crunches and twists, with little or no effect. That lower belly bulge stubbornly refuses to budge or shrink.

The first thing to remember is that there is no such thing as spot reducing. You cannot lose weight in just one area of your body. To take off pounds in the stomach, you will have to lose weight over you whole body. If you’re happy with the way the rest of your body looks, then the best way to attack it is with exercise. Choose exercises that involve the whole body, or at least most of it. Trying to target just the abdominals is ineffective. Use weights that you can manage comfortably, but which are heavy enough for you to have to exert yourself.

The rest of the problem is in what you are eating. It is not necessarily how much, but often the types of foods you eat that are putting fat on in the stomach area. Try to eliminate all processed foods and fast foods from your diet. Opt for fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats or poultry. Avoid carbohydrates and fat.

Some excellent foods for reducing stomach fat are raw vegetables like broccoli, celery, lettuce, and cauliflower, plus lean beef, turkey, and skinless chicken. The vegetables are low in calories but also require a lot of work for your body to process them. They are also good sources of fiber, which can help keep your digestive system regular. Protein, like lean beef, also requires your body to work harder to digest them than it has to with carbohydrates. Don’t ruin its benefits by deep frying it; opt for baked, broiled, boiled, or fried without any additional fat.

Drink plenty of water, preferably ice water since it will have to be warmed in your stomach before it can be processed. This will raise your metabolism, as will warm water with a little lemon juice in it.

Don’t let yourself become constipated. Many people find that a lifetime of high sugar intake has led to a system that depends on the sugar for regularity. Once the sugar is removed from the diet, constipation results. Just three or four days of being constipated can mean that you are carrying around ten or twelve pounds of waste, and it is in just the spot you want to reduce–your stomach area. Making sure that your water and fiber intake is adequate can help keep you regular.

Finally, if you have stomach fat, don’t slouch. This only makes it look worse. Stand up straight and pull in your muscles. This will not only make you look slimmer, but it is a good habit to start and will help tone your muscles. Notice the posture in the before and after pictures for diet supplements or weight loss equipment. You will probably find that in the before pictures, the shoulders are sagging and so is the belly. In the after pictures, the shoulders are squared and the stomach muscles are pulled in. Correct posture can make you look thinner instantly, and the other tips can further the cause.

Bonus Tip: If you really want to Lose Weight fast, there is a proven step-by-step technique that can help. You can shed pounds every week with this method!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Foods that contain trans-fats

Trans-fats are present in a wide range of foods: according to one estimate, 40 percent of products in the typical US supermarket contain trans fat, and the UK is not far behind.

This is because the hydrogenated vegetable fats which provide most dietary trans-fat are a mainstay of the food industry - a cheap bulking agent perfect for padding out expensive processed products, with a long shelf life and a luxurious ‘mouth feel’.

They are to be found, for example, in margarine, vegetable shortening, ice-cream, puddings & pudding mixes, ready-made pies, cakes & cake mixes, biscuits, pizza, potato chips, fritters, doughnuts, gravy & sauce mixes, artificial creamers, confectionery and other processed foods, including many foods marketed at children, including some sugary breakfast cereals.

When shopping in the US, always inspect the list of ingredients before you buy any product, looking in particular for:
  •     hydrogenated vegetable oil
  •     partially hydrogenated vegetable oil
  •     vegetable shortening
  •     margarine

In other countries (such as the UK) there may not be a requirement to list whether an oil has been hydrogenated, but if the man ingredient says vegetable oil it is very likely canola or rape seed oil which is high in poly-unsaturates and therefore trans-fats could very likely have been created during the oil extraction process, so be aware of that.

For more information:

http://www.tfx.org.uk/page13.html

Monday, September 3, 2012

The fats you didn’t know could kill you

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
For years, healthy eaters have been warned about the dangers of saturated fats. But now, there’s a new enemy on the horizon: trans fats.

Recent research has found that these new fats make you pile on weight around the abdomen, even if you’re on a diet. This abdominal fat is dangerous because it pumps out chemicals that are linked to the risk of diabetes and heart disease.



Trans fats have other negative effects, says scientist Dr Joanne Lunn of the British Nutrition Foundation: “They have been shown not only to raise LDL (bad cholesterol) in the blood but also to lower HDL (good cholesterol).”

They increase blood levels of two other compounds linked to clogged arteries: a fat-protein particle called lipoprotein, and triglycerides, another type of fat. Trans fats are also thought to inflame and stiffen arteries.

Some experts believe that trans fats are more damaging than saturated fats, and the Consumers’ Association has suggested cutting consumption of these fats could reduce UK heart disease deaths by 25 per cent a year.

Full Story

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=391523&in_page_id=1774 


Friday, August 31, 2012

20 Tips to Lose Weight without a diet plan


To Lose 1lb of body weight you have to drop down 500 calories than Normal. Here is a quick guide to losing a little weight without going on a diet.
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  1. Instead of drinking a glass of orange juice eat a whole orange. This will save you about 45 calories.
  2. Make an omlette with egg whites it is filling yet good on calories. Replace the regular bacon with low fat / Canadian bacon to save even more calories.
  3. Switch to nonfat or lowfat milk.
  4. Stop using sugar or use an substitute like stevia or honey. If you use less sugar in your coffee or tea.
  5. Use mustard instead of mayonnaise on your sandwich. This saves you 100 calories per table spoon.
  6. Stop using cheese. This saves you 100 calories per serving. Or switch to low fat cheese. 
  7. Fast food fan? Instead of eating a big mac or double whopper with large fries. Go for a small hamburger and small french fries and save a whopping 590 calories.
  8. Stop eating potatoe chips and eat an apple instead. This will save you 200 calories (with an average serving of 9 - 14 patatoe chips) and has an extra benefit of adding more fibers to your daily doiet.
  9. Substitute your regular soda's for diet cola or iced tea. You’ll save 150-200 calories per drink!
  10. Eat every two to three hours with smaller portions. Don’t skip breakfast! Eating small, frequent meals keeps blood glucose levels stable and minimizes the impulse to overeat.
  11. Want to snack? Substitute your regular snacks with healthy snacks like dried fruit, nuts, fresh fruits, vegetables or yoghurt. 
  12. Substitute whole grain foods for white bread, rice and cereals. You will not only cut fat and calories, but whole grains have been proven to reduce the risk of colon cancer by increasing the fiber that your body needs.
  13. Saute meat, chicken and vegetables in broth instead of butter. And speaking of butter: replace it with nonfat sour cream on baked potatoes.
  14. Instead of Caesar salad, substitute a dinner salad with nonfat salad dressing. Do you love pasta? Have spaghetti with marinara sauce instead of fettuccini with Alfredo sauce. You’ll save at least 500 calories!
  15. When you’re going out with friends, watch your alcohol intake. Instead of using Coke or Seven-Up with your drinks, choose tonic water or seltzer.
  16. Restaurants are notorious for their huge serving sizes. Eat only half of your dinner and save the rest for lunch tomorrow. Or simply share the meal with a friend.
  17. Get moving. Walk to the store instead of driving. Walking is the best exercise you can do to lose weight. Or go cycling.
  18. Get more walking time by replacing coffee breaks with exercise breaks. Also use half of your lunch break to take a brisk walk with a co-worker.
  19. Go swimming.  By swimming for just an hour you can burn 500 calories. You’ll also end up with a firmer, more toned body.
  20. Drink plenty of water. Water clears your body of toxins and helps hydrate your body after exercise.
You don’t have to go on a strict diet to lose weight. Change to more sensible eating habits and start moving your body by walking, swimming or bicycle riding. You’ll be rewarded by good health and a fit body.




Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Health and fitness tips - how to get rid of exess fat

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Here are some tips if you are trying to lose weight. They are not earthshaking, but the challenge is just to do it.


  1. Visualize yourself as you want to BE

    There are many books written on the subject of the mind-body connection. There is little doubt that this has a physical effect. One of the most easiest techniques available is that we change ourselves through visualization: in our minds eye we create exactly how we seek to be.  Planting a mental image firmly in the theatre of our mind adds power to your ability to follow through with dietary boundaries, exercise programs and other facets of a healthy lifestyle that will, in time, translate into physical results. This vision seldom fades and almost never disappears.
  2. Write down your vision and physical goals

    You probably know that everyone has a different learning style. Some learn by hearing, others by seeing and still others by touching: auditory, visual and tactile. So, doesn’t it make sense that when you want to teach yourself a new skill (such as becoming healthy and fit) that you might also engage in the three learning styles…just to make sure you have the goals fully ingrained. So, after you have a vision, work out a time frame and actions that will lead to the accomplishment of your goals. Realism is important at this point. Heroics or demanding super-human physical feats of yourself will not serve you well. Steady goes the course. The most important action will be your own consistency!

    Writing it all down helps you to remember what you told yourself you wanted to do and also over what time frame. You might make a chart…some even attach rewards to completion of actions…not results. Just as in elementary school when you received awards for attendance, not performance. Resist the temptation to grade yourself. Reward yourself for taking the right actions…the results will come.
  3. Have an accountability partner

    When you tell someone you will do something, you probably do it. However, when you tell yourself you will do something, you can probably figure out dozens of “reasons” or “excuses” of why it did not happen.  For most people this paradox is just an example of human nature. Suggestion: don’t fight it. Just take another tact: TELL SOMEONE what you are going to do and ask them to help you be accountable. My greatest counselling successes have been with people who have been willing to be accountable to me on a daily basis. The accountability we practices was a simple 3-5 minute phone call. The agenda was simple: did you do what you said you were going to do; how do you feel and what are your plans for tomorrow…that’s it. Nothing complicated or esoteric. My role is to help someone be accountable to themselves.

  4. Today counts

    How good is your “remember-er?” How fast is your “forget-er”? Many people would say that they forget about 10 times as fast as they remember. I suggest you keep it simple and focus on the day at hand. As you make each day a success, the excitement will grow, the resolve with get stronger and you will have results. Resist, if you will, the possibility of not succeeding as you do your best each day.