Why the last few pounds of fat can be difficult to shift!
Sometimes people look in the wrong places when they are trying to lose their last few pounds of fat. Granted, it gets harder to keep progressing with fat loss as the weeks and months go on but it is important not to allow standards to slip. There are two main reasons why the last few pounds of fat can be difficult to get rid of. One is going back to your old ways and the other is not pushing hard enough.
If your results have slowed down recently then you need to take a good look at what you have been doing.
Are you partying until late at the weekends?
Are you having too many Beers?
Are you eating a takeaway too many?
Are you drinking enough water everyday?
Do you Skip breakfast or lunch?
Are you eating late at night?
Are you eating non-processed foods every meal?
Do you frequently miss workouts?
Are you training hard enough or just going through the motions to get it over and done with?
Is stressful situations getting on the top of you and distracting you?
Are you enjoying a work/life balance?
Are you exercising too much?
Are you focused on your goals?
Do you have a strategy in place that you follow or are you guessing?
The quicker you can organise yourself and put a plan in place the sooner you will achieve your fat loss goal. I have never met anyone who has achieved his or her fat loss goal without some sort of direction to follow. It is not only quicker to achieve results but also a lot easier.
This is what you could do if you are trying to lose those last few pounds of fat. Keep a food diary and assess your strengths and weaknesses. Take action to replace your bad habits so you can move forwards with your goals. Keep an exercise journal and let a professional take a look at it to see if you are doing the right kind of program to suit your goals.
Once you have done that you could write down anything that may be stopping you from achieving your goal. Whenever I hear the words from a frustrated dieter “I can’t lose fat because of such and such”… it reminds me of all the choices we have when making decisions about health and fitness. If you want something bad enough you have to be willing to pay the price for it, no quibbles about it. It comes down to you. Whatever you think may be stopping you with progressing further you will need to write it down and then come up with a solution. It doesn’t matter if it is a long-term solution all that matters is you are taking a step forward and making a battle plan.
Wouldn’t you rather do that and one day be sat where you are now a lot happier and with a body shape you want?
Why the last few pounds of fat can be difficult to shift!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Best Exercise for Perfect Posture – Only 3 Minutes Required Daily!
An excellent exercise for posture!
Improving the strength of the postural muscles in the back helps bring the body into balance and away from poor posture and potential pain. This is very important for both sedentary and active people especially for those that follow unbalanced exercise programmes.
If you spend a lot of time exercising your abs you are training the muscles that flex your body forward. Exercising the back musculature, the muscles that extend the body backwards and away from poor posture will make your posture look normal.
Postural muscles become lengthened and weak due to holding poor posture in repetitive lifestyle situations and following unbalanced training programmes, which is why a change in posture normally follows.
Examples that can lead to a poor posture:
Lack of exercise
Being overweight or obese
Sedentary lifestyle
Stress
Bad work practises
Picking up objects with a round back
Driving long distances
Performing exercises using the wrong technique
These are just a few examples from many everyday activities that can put you at risk of developing a poor posture. Many sports can also cause bad postures, as many are one side dominant and repetitive.
You only have to look around to see people’s poor postures with their round backs and forward head and shoulders to appreciate how common this problem is. By paying attention and aware of postural issues and performing preventative exercises a future of pain and injury can be avoided and better aesthetics achieved.
An excellent exercise for the posture is to lie face down on the floor keeping the chin tucked.
Toes should remain on the ground.
If you have a large curve in the low back when standing tense the backside muscles together throughout the exercise.
As you bring the head and upper body off the floor simultaneously bring the shoulder blades together. Your arms should be out by your side with palms facing away from the body with thumbs pointing up towards the ceiling.
The extended position should be held for a total of 3 minutes, hold for as long as possible without losing technique. Your toes should remain touching the floor throughout the exercise.
The holding position may be broken down into less time followed by a brief rest until 3 minutes total time has been reached in the extended position. For example, 30-second hold followed by a 30 second rest and repeated 6 times or 10 seconds hold followed by 10-second rest repeated 18 times.
If your posture isn’t as good as it should be then this exercise could be done everyday preferably at the end of the day or at the end of your regular workout. The reason for this is if you have poor posture and were to perform this kind of exercise before your workout or at the beginning of the day then the postural muscles would be in an even more of a weakened state. This would make poor posture persistent and possibly worse than normal.
An excellent exercise for posture!
Improving the strength of the postural muscles in the back helps bring the body into balance and away from poor posture and potential pain. This is very important for both sedentary and active people especially for those that follow unbalanced exercise programmes.
If you spend a lot of time exercising your abs you are training the muscles that flex your body forward. Exercising the back musculature, the muscles that extend the body backwards and away from poor posture will make your posture look normal.
Postural muscles become lengthened and weak due to holding poor posture in repetitive lifestyle situations and following unbalanced training programmes, which is why a change in posture normally follows.
Examples that can lead to a poor posture:
Lack of exercise
Being overweight or obese
Sedentary lifestyle
Stress
Bad work practises
Picking up objects with a round back
Driving long distances
Performing exercises using the wrong technique
These are just a few examples from many everyday activities that can put you at risk of developing a poor posture. Many sports can also cause bad postures, as many are one side dominant and repetitive.
You only have to look around to see people’s poor postures with their round backs and forward head and shoulders to appreciate how common this problem is. By paying attention and aware of postural issues and performing preventative exercises a future of pain and injury can be avoided and better aesthetics achieved.
An excellent exercise for the posture is to lie face down on the floor keeping the chin tucked.
Toes should remain on the ground.
If you have a large curve in the low back when standing tense the backside muscles together throughout the exercise.
As you bring the head and upper body off the floor simultaneously bring the shoulder blades together. Your arms should be out by your side with palms facing away from the body with thumbs pointing up towards the ceiling.
The extended position should be held for a total of 3 minutes, hold for as long as possible without losing technique. Your toes should remain touching the floor throughout the exercise.
The holding position may be broken down into less time followed by a brief rest until 3 minutes total time has been reached in the extended position. For example, 30-second hold followed by a 30 second rest and repeated 6 times or 10 seconds hold followed by 10-second rest repeated 18 times.
If your posture isn’t as good as it should be then this exercise could be done everyday preferably at the end of the day or at the end of your regular workout. The reason for this is if you have poor posture and were to perform this kind of exercise before your workout or at the beginning of the day then the postural muscles would be in an even more of a weakened state. This would make poor posture persistent and possibly worse than normal.
An excellent exercise for posture!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Truth About Cardio Training & Fat Loss
Which type of exercise is the best for burning unwanted body fat?
If you asked any group of people including doctors, physical therapist and most personal trainers which type of exercise is the best for burning unwanted body fat 99% would say cardiovascular training or cardio for short. Cardio training are exercises like jogging, running, bike riding, rowing and other repetitive movements you see people doing on pieces of fancy looking gym equipment.
I have years of experience witnessing the lack of results people achieve doing cardio workouts for fat loss goals. I also have dozens of opinions through research and personal experience to back it up.
I have personally done cardio training in the past under strict conditions whilst keeping my calorie intake and non-cardio training frequency consistent. The cardio workouts I have tried and tested were training at 60% of my maximum heart rate, training at 80% of my maximum heart rate and interval training. All the cardio workouts lasted for at least 20 minutes. I need to emphasise that I gave each type of workout a chance by giving them ample time by doing them for months at a time rather than for weeks. I did this to see if I got any sort of response and waited to see if my body fat levels or body weight would change but it never did.
In other words I spent years wasting my time and effort on different kinds of cardiovascular workouts when all I needed was strength training and quality nutrition rather than focus on calories and miles.
What does this tell you about cardio training for your goals? If someone with a calorie controlled and healthy diet exercising six times a week can’t achieve any kind of results with cardio workouts how do you think you will do?
Just to prove I was working hard enough all the cardio workouts I did always made me sweat giving me a false sense of security that something positive was happening to me. The interval training workouts were extremely challenging and always leaved me in a state of heavy and out of controlled breathing halfway through the workout till the end. But unfortunately for me I never saw any results for all the hard work I was putting in.
You have to ask yourself where the cardio myth originated and who perpetuated it. Cardio training is actually out of date science, it works to a degree in theory but when you study it carefully it is only marginally successful for weight and fat loss and for many of us can have a reverse effect on body fat levels.
Health clubs and gyms have helped to add fuel to the cardio myth for years and even decades. When you walk into any gym in the world all you will see are rows and rows of cardio training equipment neatly presented. These are there for the clubs benefit and not yours. They give an image that the gym has an answer to your goals and all you have to do is use them. If all they had were dumbbells, Swiss balls and other functional equipment on the gym floor no one would want to join the gym because they wouldn’t have a clue what to do with them.
It is in the gyms best interest to encourage its members to use the cardio equipment because they are easy to use and they can spend as little time as possible on customer service. This works a treat for keeping gyms and health clubs overheads down with staffing and makes their job a lot easier. But it also has an advantage on a psychological level too, gyms know if their members spend their visit using cardio equipment they will feel like they have done something strenuous just like I used to feel after a cardio workout.
Maybe the fitness industry ended up like this because of pressure from the equipment manufacturers. The manufacturers could be behind the biggest fat loss myth in history. To name just a few different pieces of cardio kit like the treadmills, bikes and stairmaster they all have one thing in common, they all have moving parts and eventually need replacements giving the manufactures recurring revenue. The recurring revenue from barbells, weight plates and functional equipment is much more infrequent then that of cardio equipment.
New and updated models of cardio equipment are released every year and the once new treadmill with the TV screen can very quickly look outdated a bit like used cars. No up and coming gym wants to show a potential member around their facilities with old-fashioned looking cardio equipment or equipment showing a lot of wear and tear. They want the latest brand new hi tech designs to give the impression they are more modern and more effective than their rivals.
I hope you can now see how this vicious circle will be hard to break and how the cardio myth gets perpetuated in the industry. In part 2 of this article I will compare the effectiveness of cardio training versus strength training for weight and fat loss goals.
Which type of exercise is the best for burning unwanted body fat?
If you asked any group of people including doctors, physical therapist and most personal trainers which type of exercise is the best for burning unwanted body fat 99% would say cardiovascular training or cardio for short. Cardio training are exercises like jogging, running, bike riding, rowing and other repetitive movements you see people doing on pieces of fancy looking gym equipment.
I have years of experience witnessing the lack of results people achieve doing cardio workouts for fat loss goals. I also have dozens of opinions through research and personal experience to back it up.
I have personally done cardio training in the past under strict conditions whilst keeping my calorie intake and non-cardio training frequency consistent. The cardio workouts I have tried and tested were training at 60% of my maximum heart rate, training at 80% of my maximum heart rate and interval training. All the cardio workouts lasted for at least 20 minutes. I need to emphasise that I gave each type of workout a chance by giving them ample time by doing them for months at a time rather than for weeks. I did this to see if I got any sort of response and waited to see if my body fat levels or body weight would change but it never did.
In other words I spent years wasting my time and effort on different kinds of cardiovascular workouts when all I needed was strength training and quality nutrition rather than focus on calories and miles.
What does this tell you about cardio training for your goals? If someone with a calorie controlled and healthy diet exercising six times a week can’t achieve any kind of results with cardio workouts how do you think you will do?
Just to prove I was working hard enough all the cardio workouts I did always made me sweat giving me a false sense of security that something positive was happening to me. The interval training workouts were extremely challenging and always leaved me in a state of heavy and out of controlled breathing halfway through the workout till the end. But unfortunately for me I never saw any results for all the hard work I was putting in.
You have to ask yourself where the cardio myth originated and who perpetuated it. Cardio training is actually out of date science, it works to a degree in theory but when you study it carefully it is only marginally successful for weight and fat loss and for many of us can have a reverse effect on body fat levels.
Health clubs and gyms have helped to add fuel to the cardio myth for years and even decades. When you walk into any gym in the world all you will see are rows and rows of cardio training equipment neatly presented. These are there for the clubs benefit and not yours. They give an image that the gym has an answer to your goals and all you have to do is use them. If all they had were dumbbells, Swiss balls and other functional equipment on the gym floor no one would want to join the gym because they wouldn’t have a clue what to do with them.
It is in the gyms best interest to encourage its members to use the cardio equipment because they are easy to use and they can spend as little time as possible on customer service. This works a treat for keeping gyms and health clubs overheads down with staffing and makes their job a lot easier. But it also has an advantage on a psychological level too, gyms know if their members spend their visit using cardio equipment they will feel like they have done something strenuous just like I used to feel after a cardio workout.
Maybe the fitness industry ended up like this because of pressure from the equipment manufacturers. The manufacturers could be behind the biggest fat loss myth in history. To name just a few different pieces of cardio kit like the treadmills, bikes and stairmaster they all have one thing in common, they all have moving parts and eventually need replacements giving the manufactures recurring revenue. The recurring revenue from barbells, weight plates and functional equipment is much more infrequent then that of cardio equipment.
New and updated models of cardio equipment are released every year and the once new treadmill with the TV screen can very quickly look outdated a bit like used cars. No up and coming gym wants to show a potential member around their facilities with old-fashioned looking cardio equipment or equipment showing a lot of wear and tear. They want the latest brand new hi tech designs to give the impression they are more modern and more effective than their rivals.
I hope you can now see how this vicious circle will be hard to break and how the cardio myth gets perpetuated in the industry. In part 2 of this article I will compare the effectiveness of cardio training versus strength training for weight and fat loss goals.
Which type of exercise is the best for burning unwanted body fat?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
How to Tone Arms, Thighs & Abs in 15 Minutes
A quick way to tone up - gym or home workout!
Time constraints can leave people thinking they have no time for exercise. A common perception is that in order to be fit and healthy you have to spend hours sweating it out in the gym. There is a way to make the most of what little time you have and gain health and fitness in less time whilst sculpting a better body.
This approach consists of just two exercises for the workout and involves exercises that will train the core and challenge the targeted muscles. The intensity of the workout will give the metabolism a massive boost and providing the resistance is challenging enough will tone and shape specific body parts.
It is best to start the workout with a warm up for about 5 minutes, this could be skipping, jogging on the spot or walking. Once the body temperature is elevated gentle stretches for the tightest muscles in the body are recommended followed by a shoulder girdle warm-up with dumbbells. To warm the shoulders up I do two rounds of ten reps of side raises, bicep curls and shoulder presses with light dumbbells.
The rules for the Quick Way to Tone Up workout is to do 10-12 reps on both exercises straight after each other followed by a rest of no more than 30 seconds. The aim is to strive for as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes without breaking form and dropping below 8 reps. When applicable, the same resistance must be used on all the sets for the workout. Choose a weight that allows you to perform 12 reps on the first set, if you can only manage 2 or 3 rounds before dropping below 8 reps stop the workout and continue to progress the next time with a little less weight. For intermediates and advanced trainers a 10-20-rep window is an option. Whichever rep window you choose make sure you select the correct weight that allows you to perform the target reps with safe and proper technique.
Exercise #1 Squat and Curl to Overhead Press
Before you begin, a warm up set for the first exercise is recommended, this should be around 50% of the weight you will be using for all your sets. Strong individuals using heavy weights should do a staggered warm up, for example 50%, 65%, and 75% of the working weight.
Begin the starting position standing with a good posture holding the dumbbells at the sides with the palms facing the thighs. Take a deep diaphragmatic breath and initiate the squat by bending the hips and knees keeping the shoulder blades down and together. Squat down as far as you can without breaking form. Slowly rise back to the standing position breathing out slowly. When in the standing position curl the dumbbells towards the shoulders and press the dumbbells above the head turning the palms forward. Reverse the arm action until the dumbbells are by the side of your thighs. This completes one rep.
Exercise #2 Swiss Ball Hamstring Curl
Start by lying on your back on the floor with the arms at the sides with palms facing up; place the heels on top of the ball with toes pointing up. Squeeze the glutes and draw the tummy in as you bring the hips of the floor. Bend your knees to bring the heels towards the glutes and slowly return to the starting position. Don’t allow your hips to drop and maintain the level of your hips throughout the set. Also keep the toes pointing up when bending the knees.
The options to progress on this Quick Way to Tone Up type of workout would be to either shorten the rest time in between rounds enabling you to achieve more rounds in the 15 minute window or to increase the resistance so the desired reps are more challenging to reach on every round. It is best to swap and change training principles as often as possible to keep the workout demanding. Work as hard as you can on every workout to force the body to change.
A quick way to tone up - gym or home workout!
Time constraints can leave people thinking they have no time for exercise. A common perception is that in order to be fit and healthy you have to spend hours sweating it out in the gym. There is a way to make the most of what little time you have and gain health and fitness in less time whilst sculpting a better body.
This approach consists of just two exercises for the workout and involves exercises that will train the core and challenge the targeted muscles. The intensity of the workout will give the metabolism a massive boost and providing the resistance is challenging enough will tone and shape specific body parts.
It is best to start the workout with a warm up for about 5 minutes, this could be skipping, jogging on the spot or walking. Once the body temperature is elevated gentle stretches for the tightest muscles in the body are recommended followed by a shoulder girdle warm-up with dumbbells. To warm the shoulders up I do two rounds of ten reps of side raises, bicep curls and shoulder presses with light dumbbells.
The rules for the Quick Way to Tone Up workout is to do 10-12 reps on both exercises straight after each other followed by a rest of no more than 30 seconds. The aim is to strive for as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes without breaking form and dropping below 8 reps. When applicable, the same resistance must be used on all the sets for the workout. Choose a weight that allows you to perform 12 reps on the first set, if you can only manage 2 or 3 rounds before dropping below 8 reps stop the workout and continue to progress the next time with a little less weight. For intermediates and advanced trainers a 10-20-rep window is an option. Whichever rep window you choose make sure you select the correct weight that allows you to perform the target reps with safe and proper technique.
Exercise #1 Squat and Curl to Overhead Press
Before you begin, a warm up set for the first exercise is recommended, this should be around 50% of the weight you will be using for all your sets. Strong individuals using heavy weights should do a staggered warm up, for example 50%, 65%, and 75% of the working weight.
Begin the starting position standing with a good posture holding the dumbbells at the sides with the palms facing the thighs. Take a deep diaphragmatic breath and initiate the squat by bending the hips and knees keeping the shoulder blades down and together. Squat down as far as you can without breaking form. Slowly rise back to the standing position breathing out slowly. When in the standing position curl the dumbbells towards the shoulders and press the dumbbells above the head turning the palms forward. Reverse the arm action until the dumbbells are by the side of your thighs. This completes one rep.
Exercise #2 Swiss Ball Hamstring Curl
Start by lying on your back on the floor with the arms at the sides with palms facing up; place the heels on top of the ball with toes pointing up. Squeeze the glutes and draw the tummy in as you bring the hips of the floor. Bend your knees to bring the heels towards the glutes and slowly return to the starting position. Don’t allow your hips to drop and maintain the level of your hips throughout the set. Also keep the toes pointing up when bending the knees.
The options to progress on this Quick Way to Tone Up type of workout would be to either shorten the rest time in between rounds enabling you to achieve more rounds in the 15 minute window or to increase the resistance so the desired reps are more challenging to reach on every round. It is best to swap and change training principles as often as possible to keep the workout demanding. Work as hard as you can on every workout to force the body to change.
A quick way to tone up - gym or home workout!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Why Vegetarians May Struggle to Lose Weight – The Truth About Protein & Fat Loss
This article is for people who live a vegetarian lifestyle but who isn’t vegetarian!
Today there are many vegetarians in our society as well as other groups that eliminate meat for spiritual or ethical reasons. My awareness of the high numbers of people practising a vegetarian lifestyle or some level of vegetarianism came about from doing my job as a personal trainer. I was surprised with the different misconceptions people had about eating meat and dieting. Animal meats get bad press because of the commercial farming methods used; this is a shame because this gives all animal meats a bad name. Some people are happy to follow misconceptions and myths without backing it up through research to confirm if their motives are safe, healthy or just plain necessary. This article is for people who live a vegetarian lifestyle but who isn’t vegetarian.
If you want to achieve fat loss it is essential to eat good quality protein, but protein isn’t just protein. You have what’s classed as complete and incomplete proteins that are found in different foods. The complete proteins have all the essential amino acids and the incomplete proteins have some missing or not enough to be classed a complete protein. Complete proteins can be found in animal foods including meat, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy. It is these complete protein foods that provide all the 8 essential amino acids. Very briefly, amino acids are the building blocks of the body and a necessary part of every cell in the body and vital for health. Specific amino acids have been linked to greater fat loss and known to correct brain chemistry deficiencies for food cravings and depression.
If you don’t consume complete protein foods such as animal foods it is very important to combine different types of plant foods to make up a complete protein to ensure you get all the essential amino acids in your diet. Anything termed essential in the diet means that it is necessary for proper functioning. As a matter of interest the other food group that is termed essential is fat, there are essential fatty acids that must be acquired in the diet or serious health problems can occur. It is handy to note that carbohydrates aren’t classed as essential but protein and good fats are.
This is where it can get difficult to lose weight and fat for the person on a vegetarian diet. In my opinion the drawback to relying on food combing to get all the essential amino acids is that insulin resistant people would find it hard losing weight with combining different carbohydrates. What you have is a diet made up of mainly carbohydrates with little first class protein and essential fat to stabilise blood sugar levels. The reason why many vegetarians can become addicted to sweets is because of their poor blood sugar management following a high carbohydrate diet. Not an ideal habit to have if you want to lose fat and drop the pounds in a hurry.
In summary it is essential to eat good quality protein everyday that provides you with all the essential amino acids for optimal health. If you decide to combine different plant foods otherwise known as carbohydrates then you need to realise these foods have an insulin provoking effect that can lead to fat storage. On the other hand if you choose to eat animal protein make sure it is organic and free range. Eating organic meats makes a massive difference to the state of your health because you are eliminating the pesticides and drugs conventional meats contain, organic meats also have more nutrients and are easier for the body to assimilate. Consider this, commercially raised cattle are one of the unhealthiest animals on the planet.
This article is for people who live a vegetarian lifestyle but who isn’t vegetarian!
Today there are many vegetarians in our society as well as other groups that eliminate meat for spiritual or ethical reasons. My awareness of the high numbers of people practising a vegetarian lifestyle or some level of vegetarianism came about from doing my job as a personal trainer. I was surprised with the different misconceptions people had about eating meat and dieting. Animal meats get bad press because of the commercial farming methods used; this is a shame because this gives all animal meats a bad name. Some people are happy to follow misconceptions and myths without backing it up through research to confirm if their motives are safe, healthy or just plain necessary. This article is for people who live a vegetarian lifestyle but who isn’t vegetarian.
If you want to achieve fat loss it is essential to eat good quality protein, but protein isn’t just protein. You have what’s classed as complete and incomplete proteins that are found in different foods. The complete proteins have all the essential amino acids and the incomplete proteins have some missing or not enough to be classed a complete protein. Complete proteins can be found in animal foods including meat, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy. It is these complete protein foods that provide all the 8 essential amino acids. Very briefly, amino acids are the building blocks of the body and a necessary part of every cell in the body and vital for health. Specific amino acids have been linked to greater fat loss and known to correct brain chemistry deficiencies for food cravings and depression.
If you don’t consume complete protein foods such as animal foods it is very important to combine different types of plant foods to make up a complete protein to ensure you get all the essential amino acids in your diet. Anything termed essential in the diet means that it is necessary for proper functioning. As a matter of interest the other food group that is termed essential is fat, there are essential fatty acids that must be acquired in the diet or serious health problems can occur. It is handy to note that carbohydrates aren’t classed as essential but protein and good fats are.
This is where it can get difficult to lose weight and fat for the person on a vegetarian diet. In my opinion the drawback to relying on food combing to get all the essential amino acids is that insulin resistant people would find it hard losing weight with combining different carbohydrates. What you have is a diet made up of mainly carbohydrates with little first class protein and essential fat to stabilise blood sugar levels. The reason why many vegetarians can become addicted to sweets is because of their poor blood sugar management following a high carbohydrate diet. Not an ideal habit to have if you want to lose fat and drop the pounds in a hurry.
In summary it is essential to eat good quality protein everyday that provides you with all the essential amino acids for optimal health. If you decide to combine different plant foods otherwise known as carbohydrates then you need to realise these foods have an insulin provoking effect that can lead to fat storage. On the other hand if you choose to eat animal protein make sure it is organic and free range. Eating organic meats makes a massive difference to the state of your health because you are eliminating the pesticides and drugs conventional meats contain, organic meats also have more nutrients and are easier for the body to assimilate. Consider this, commercially raised cattle are one of the unhealthiest animals on the planet.
This article is for people who live a vegetarian lifestyle but who isn’t vegetarian!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
6 Essential Tips for Weight Loss – Discover How These Easy to Apply Suggestions Can Help Melt Belly Fat
Flatten your belly and see your six-pack!
“Fail to plan and plan to fail”. You can’t get truer words when it comes to achieving a goal but it’s especially true when it comes to fat loss and achieving an impressive midsection. If you don’t know how to flatten the barriers that can stand in between you and your goal then you will never be able flatten your belly and see your six-pack. The key to reaching your target is to begin with a day at a time and build upon your foundation a tier at a time.
The ingredients you need for a perfect day not only starts with the ingredients that go in your mouth but with work, life, movement and sleep balance within a 24-hour period. Some will swear that there isn’t enough time in a day to follow a healthy lifestyle while others will blame work or family commitments for their lack of commitment. Well I’ve heard every excuse and its time to face up to your responsibilities and accept that you are the master of your destiny. There will always be someone with a busier life than yours that achieves the results you dream about, the only difference is they take action. Lets take a look at what action needs to be implemented for the best results.
#1- Time Management
Time management is one of the most important steps you must become good at if you want to shift stubborn body fat and flatten your belly and see your six-pack. For example, if you don’t have time to eat a proper breakfast every morning then you need to get up early. If you can’t do that because you need more sleep then you need to go to bed earlier and so on. I’ve heard every excuse and there is always an answer if you want something bad enough. The more organised you are the more addictive it becomes and the more energy it gives you. There is no better feeling than having free time to do the things you love and no worse feeling than wasting your time.
#2- Shopping
Decide what foods you need and how you are going to shop for them. You could either shop every few days or even once a month. The Internet is a brilliant option and convenient for a lot of people because it can save heaps of time. For a lot of your shopping such as non-fresh items you could get away with shopping once a month. For other items like organic fruit, vegetables and meats you could have them delivered to your door, check with your local farm shop to see if they deliver. All it takes is one click of a mouse button or at most one visit per week.
#3- Making The Kitchen Work For You
Make sure you have all the useful appliances in your kitchen to help you with food preparation. Store food in glass or ceramic containers, toxins can leach into the food when using plastic or cans. You may decide to freeze leftovers to be used for a weeknight after work, don’t forget to label meals that you freeze for future reference.
#4- Meal Planning
Decide what you are going to eat for the week ahead, use pen and paper once a week to plan and rotate your meals. You may only need to do this once before establishing a routine. By doing this you will know what to shop for and there will be less chance of rubbish finding its way into your cupboards and fridge and more chance of flattening your belly and seeing your six-pack. You will also be able to prevent yourself from eating the same meals everyday.
#5- Exercising Smart
The wrong training routine for your goal is still going to be unproductive even with the right nutrition and healthy lifestyle. Seek professional help to make sure you are making the most of your time and effort by doing the right kind of exercises to help you with your goals. Putting together a routine and fitting it into your week is something that can be flexible and doesn’t necessarily need to be carved in stone. All that matters is making sure you train intense doing the right workout 3 times a week.
#6- Resting
People overlook the importance of sleep in their quest for better aesthetics and health. I was guilty of this up to a few years ago; I would always go to bed after midnight regardless of what time I had to be up the next morning. The more I studied about health & lifestyle the more I learnt about the body and its sleep/wake cycle called the circadian rhythm. Before the invention of light bulbs our bodies didn’t know any different other than falling asleep at sunset and waking at sunrise, this is the way Mother Nature intended our bodies to operate and the reason why our hormones are naturally released at certain times throughout the day. If we disrupt this cycle by going to bed late, watching TV or staring at a computer screen late at night we stimulate awakening hormones that rob the body of repairing itself and eventually leading to health problems.
Flatten your belly and see your six-pack!
“Fail to plan and plan to fail”. You can’t get truer words when it comes to achieving a goal but it’s especially true when it comes to fat loss and achieving an impressive midsection. If you don’t know how to flatten the barriers that can stand in between you and your goal then you will never be able flatten your belly and see your six-pack. The key to reaching your target is to begin with a day at a time and build upon your foundation a tier at a time.
The ingredients you need for a perfect day not only starts with the ingredients that go in your mouth but with work, life, movement and sleep balance within a 24-hour period. Some will swear that there isn’t enough time in a day to follow a healthy lifestyle while others will blame work or family commitments for their lack of commitment. Well I’ve heard every excuse and its time to face up to your responsibilities and accept that you are the master of your destiny. There will always be someone with a busier life than yours that achieves the results you dream about, the only difference is they take action. Lets take a look at what action needs to be implemented for the best results.
#1- Time Management
Time management is one of the most important steps you must become good at if you want to shift stubborn body fat and flatten your belly and see your six-pack. For example, if you don’t have time to eat a proper breakfast every morning then you need to get up early. If you can’t do that because you need more sleep then you need to go to bed earlier and so on. I’ve heard every excuse and there is always an answer if you want something bad enough. The more organised you are the more addictive it becomes and the more energy it gives you. There is no better feeling than having free time to do the things you love and no worse feeling than wasting your time.
#2- Shopping
Decide what foods you need and how you are going to shop for them. You could either shop every few days or even once a month. The Internet is a brilliant option and convenient for a lot of people because it can save heaps of time. For a lot of your shopping such as non-fresh items you could get away with shopping once a month. For other items like organic fruit, vegetables and meats you could have them delivered to your door, check with your local farm shop to see if they deliver. All it takes is one click of a mouse button or at most one visit per week.
#3- Making The Kitchen Work For You
Make sure you have all the useful appliances in your kitchen to help you with food preparation. Store food in glass or ceramic containers, toxins can leach into the food when using plastic or cans. You may decide to freeze leftovers to be used for a weeknight after work, don’t forget to label meals that you freeze for future reference.
#4- Meal Planning
Decide what you are going to eat for the week ahead, use pen and paper once a week to plan and rotate your meals. You may only need to do this once before establishing a routine. By doing this you will know what to shop for and there will be less chance of rubbish finding its way into your cupboards and fridge and more chance of flattening your belly and seeing your six-pack. You will also be able to prevent yourself from eating the same meals everyday.
#5- Exercising Smart
The wrong training routine for your goal is still going to be unproductive even with the right nutrition and healthy lifestyle. Seek professional help to make sure you are making the most of your time and effort by doing the right kind of exercises to help you with your goals. Putting together a routine and fitting it into your week is something that can be flexible and doesn’t necessarily need to be carved in stone. All that matters is making sure you train intense doing the right workout 3 times a week.
#6- Resting
People overlook the importance of sleep in their quest for better aesthetics and health. I was guilty of this up to a few years ago; I would always go to bed after midnight regardless of what time I had to be up the next morning. The more I studied about health & lifestyle the more I learnt about the body and its sleep/wake cycle called the circadian rhythm. Before the invention of light bulbs our bodies didn’t know any different other than falling asleep at sunset and waking at sunrise, this is the way Mother Nature intended our bodies to operate and the reason why our hormones are naturally released at certain times throughout the day. If we disrupt this cycle by going to bed late, watching TV or staring at a computer screen late at night we stimulate awakening hormones that rob the body of repairing itself and eventually leading to health problems.
Flatten your belly and see your six-pack!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Best Diet to Help You Look Like Your Favourite Celebrity
Lose pounds and inches in less time!
The quickest way to a healthy, slim figure just like your favourite celebrity is to eliminate certain foods from your diet. The clean diet approach helps you lose pounds and inches in less time with the added benefit of detoxifying the body and rejuvenating your complexion.
To achieve the maximum results with dieting and fat loss it is essential to follow the eight guidelines below.
1. Drink plenty of mineral water
2. Eat only natural fresh, non-processed foods
3. Cut out all dairy products apart from natural- live yoghurt, organic butter & eggs
4. Cut out all sugar
5. Cut out all wheat
6. Cut out all alcohol
7. Cut out all caffeine
8. Eat organic whenever possible
I'm not saying you have to stick to these guidelines forever and everyday for the rest of your life but if you did you would be guaranteed a higher level of health than someone who didn't.
The point I want to get across is if you eliminate the foods on the list for at least 30 days and implement the guidelines into your day-to-day lifestyle then you will achieve quick fat loss results. It may be the only way to get the ball rolling.
When you are happy with your results you may gradually reintroduce the banned foods on the list back into your diet. When you begin to reintroduce the banned foods into your diet you will be able to monitor your response to see which foods have an adverse effect on your health and body fat. If a food from the banned list doesn't agree with your digestion, complexion or reverses your body shape then you know to say goodbye to it. Also recording your response to each meal in a food diary will help you quickly establish which foods react differently to your body.
Eliminating processed foods and most dairy products; sugar, wheat, alcohol and caffeine will help speed up fat and weight loss without a shadow of a doubt. It will also help your skin, hair, nails look better, and your physical strength and mental clarity will improve along with your internal health.
It can seem like a burden and great effort to put this in to motion but is worth every single ounce of trouble it may seem. It can go a little like this, if you follow anything blindly you trip up and give up. On the other hand if you plan and set out what you are going to do you have less chance of failing because your course is already set out for you to follow, it really is that simple.
Lose pounds and inches in less time!
The quickest way to a healthy, slim figure just like your favourite celebrity is to eliminate certain foods from your diet. The clean diet approach helps you lose pounds and inches in less time with the added benefit of detoxifying the body and rejuvenating your complexion.
To achieve the maximum results with dieting and fat loss it is essential to follow the eight guidelines below.
1. Drink plenty of mineral water
2. Eat only natural fresh, non-processed foods
3. Cut out all dairy products apart from natural- live yoghurt, organic butter & eggs
4. Cut out all sugar
5. Cut out all wheat
6. Cut out all alcohol
7. Cut out all caffeine
8. Eat organic whenever possible
I'm not saying you have to stick to these guidelines forever and everyday for the rest of your life but if you did you would be guaranteed a higher level of health than someone who didn't.
The point I want to get across is if you eliminate the foods on the list for at least 30 days and implement the guidelines into your day-to-day lifestyle then you will achieve quick fat loss results. It may be the only way to get the ball rolling.
When you are happy with your results you may gradually reintroduce the banned foods on the list back into your diet. When you begin to reintroduce the banned foods into your diet you will be able to monitor your response to see which foods have an adverse effect on your health and body fat. If a food from the banned list doesn't agree with your digestion, complexion or reverses your body shape then you know to say goodbye to it. Also recording your response to each meal in a food diary will help you quickly establish which foods react differently to your body.
Eliminating processed foods and most dairy products; sugar, wheat, alcohol and caffeine will help speed up fat and weight loss without a shadow of a doubt. It will also help your skin, hair, nails look better, and your physical strength and mental clarity will improve along with your internal health.
It can seem like a burden and great effort to put this in to motion but is worth every single ounce of trouble it may seem. It can go a little like this, if you follow anything blindly you trip up and give up. On the other hand if you plan and set out what you are going to do you have less chance of failing because your course is already set out for you to follow, it really is that simple.
Lose pounds and inches in less time!
Friday, January 1, 2010
How to Get a Six Pack - About Your Weight & Visible Abs
The way to be leaner and more defined with a six-pack!
Beginners and in particularly men who take up training with weights normally need to gain weight and bulk up. Once this is achieved the individual can be well over 30 pounds heavier from when they first began training. There will come a time when the individual can’t gain any more weight or wishes to be leaner and more defined with a six-pack.
This is when some people get confused. Many think they will be able to achieve a well-defined and lean physique and stay the same body weight without losing overall size and shape. It is almost as if they have a fear of losing weight in case they return to their former body image previous to training with weights.
Let me explain why it is necessary to lose weight if you want a six-pack that looks great. Hypothetically speaking lets say you are a 200-pound male and want six-pack abs. You have no idea what your body fat percentage is but you carry some fat around your waist hence the lack of a six-pack showing. If you pinch the fat around your waist with your thumb and index finger you will either be able to grab a thin layer of fat between your fingers or a thick layer resembling the spare tyre look.
Hypothetically speaking one more time lets say you know your body fat percentage and have a reading of 20 percent. That will work out you having 40 pounds of body fat on your body. That means you have a lean body mass weight of 160 pounds. To be able to see your six-pack you will need to get your body fat percentage in to the single figure territory. So in this case that would mean a drop of 22 pounds of body weight. That would take you to a new body weight of 178 pounds with a lean waist and an awesome six-pack.
A lot of men can’t get their heads around this because they are scared of losing muscle size and strength. Once you are lean and look more defined your muscles will look a lot bigger than they were with more body fat surrounding them. Also if you eat a proper balanced diet with plenty of good fats your strength shouldn’t decrease either.
In summary getting lean to show off your six-pack without losing weight is impossible unless you have the gift of gaining muscle at the same time. In the example above our friend would have to lose 22 pounds of fat and gain 22 pounds of muscle at the same time in order to remain the same body weight and achieve six-pack abs. Which do you think is quicker and more achievable?
The way to be leaner and more defined with a six-pack!
Beginners and in particularly men who take up training with weights normally need to gain weight and bulk up. Once this is achieved the individual can be well over 30 pounds heavier from when they first began training. There will come a time when the individual can’t gain any more weight or wishes to be leaner and more defined with a six-pack.
This is when some people get confused. Many think they will be able to achieve a well-defined and lean physique and stay the same body weight without losing overall size and shape. It is almost as if they have a fear of losing weight in case they return to their former body image previous to training with weights.
Let me explain why it is necessary to lose weight if you want a six-pack that looks great. Hypothetically speaking lets say you are a 200-pound male and want six-pack abs. You have no idea what your body fat percentage is but you carry some fat around your waist hence the lack of a six-pack showing. If you pinch the fat around your waist with your thumb and index finger you will either be able to grab a thin layer of fat between your fingers or a thick layer resembling the spare tyre look.
Hypothetically speaking one more time lets say you know your body fat percentage and have a reading of 20 percent. That will work out you having 40 pounds of body fat on your body. That means you have a lean body mass weight of 160 pounds. To be able to see your six-pack you will need to get your body fat percentage in to the single figure territory. So in this case that would mean a drop of 22 pounds of body weight. That would take you to a new body weight of 178 pounds with a lean waist and an awesome six-pack.
A lot of men can’t get their heads around this because they are scared of losing muscle size and strength. Once you are lean and look more defined your muscles will look a lot bigger than they were with more body fat surrounding them. Also if you eat a proper balanced diet with plenty of good fats your strength shouldn’t decrease either.
In summary getting lean to show off your six-pack without losing weight is impossible unless you have the gift of gaining muscle at the same time. In the example above our friend would have to lose 22 pounds of fat and gain 22 pounds of muscle at the same time in order to remain the same body weight and achieve six-pack abs. Which do you think is quicker and more achievable?
The way to be leaner and more defined with a six-pack!
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