How easy is it to get a tight, flat stomach?

So many times you hear the fitness guru’s and medical professionals recommend low to moderate aerobic exercises, mainly known as cardio, to people who are looking to stop heart disease in it’s tracks or simply to lose a few unwanted pounds to get the flat stomach they want.  More often the advice given makes up something like “do 30-60 minutes of constantly paced cardio 3-5 times per week keeping your heart rate at a modest level”.  But before you run out and make yourself feel like hamster in a wheel by doing never-ending hours of mind-numbing cardio, I’d like you to think about some recent scientific discoveries that show endurance based aerobic exercises are not all it’s made out to be, especially when working toward a flat stomach.

Now, understand the physical bodies we have are intended to function on activity in an explosion of exertion followed by recovery.  Research is showing that using variety can be one of the most important parts of your training regimen, especially when it comes to getting that flat stomach we all want. This propensity toward variety can be seen throughout the animal kingdom since they demonstrate a stop-and-go movement rather then the continuous movement.  In all reality, humans are the only creatures in nature that attempt “stamina” based physical exercise to get a trim, flat stomach.  Most sports, with the exemption of long distance running and/or cycling, are also based on variety of movement with small bursts of action followed by recovery.  To see an example of these dissimilar effects of stamina or steady rate training versus stop-and-go, consider the body type of volleyball and tennis players which have lean, flat stomachs or better yet marathoners as apposed to sprinters.  Most sprinters have a body that is lean, full of muscle, and looks like a power house, while the characteristic of a marathoner athlete, though they have a flat stomach, they are more often thin and sickly in appearance.  Now the question is which would you rather be?

The kind of physical activity you do is important to getting the flat stomach you’ve always wanted.

Another thing to remember concerning this idea of using variability to achieve a nice flat stomach is the effect this has on the interior parts of the body while doing different types of exercise.  Scientists have known that extreme amounts of steady exercise boosts free radical production in your body, it can degenerate joints, in some cases the immune function can be reduced, in some it causes muscle wasting, and can cause a pro-inflammatory reaction which can potentially lead to persistent disease conditions in the body.  But on the flip side, high variety cyclic training will not only get us a flat stomach but has been shown to stimulate anti-oxidant production.  It can also increase an anti-inflammatory type condition and give an up tick in our metabolic rate response which is great for reaching our goal of a flat stomach with great abs.

Your heart is a key element to a fantastically flat stomach.

In addition, constant endurance exercising only gets the heart accustom to one heart rate range and in turn doesn’t get the heart too respond to different stress points. While highly variable cyclic workouts train your heart to respond to and recover from different demands keeping it in great shape so that it’s there when you need it. Think of it like this, physical exertion that trains your heart to quickly increase and then decrease will cause your heart to be more competent in the everyday stress it must deal with. Stress can do all kinds of things to your physical body, including your waistline, some of which can cause your blood pressure to increase and pulse to increase rapidly to a danger point. Steady rhythm jogging and other endurance exercise does not help your heart stay fit in order to deal with extreme changes in heart rates and blood pressures.

Your goal is a flat stomach with killer abs!

The important element of up-and-down cyclic training that makes it stand out way above steady state cardio is there are recovery phases in between bursts of exercise.  This recovery time is critical because it helps the body to obtain a strong response to an exercise activity.  A side benefit of this up and down, stop and go style of training is that it is much more interesting which in most cases lowers the drop-out rate from those cardio programs, which if you don’t drop out then a flat stomach can become reality rather then a dream.
In summery, some of the potential benefits interval training included: improved cardiovascular health, increased anti-oxidant protection, improved immune function, reduced risk of joint injury, increased consistency in your metabolic rate (which gets you a flat stomach easier) following exercise, and a much greater capacity for the heart to handle every day stress than it did before.  Sports such as football, basketball, and hockey, etc. are highly variable stop-and-go motion just due to the nature of the sport.  Then when you add in weight training which naturally incorporates short bursts of action followed by recovery time you can be sure to chisel that flat stomach in no time.

For example a work-out session to achieve your goal of a flat stomach may look something like this: Warm-up for 5 minutes at a fast walk or light jog; First – Jog for 1.5 minutes; Second – walk for 3 minutes; Third – run as fast as you can sustainably for 1.5 minutes; Fourth – walk for 3 minutes;

Then all you have to do is repeat those 4 stages twice for a very intense workout that can give you that amazingly flat stomach you have always wanted.

What you should take away from this article is the need to train at highly variable rates for the greater part of your workouts in order to get the most benefit for things like heart health, fat loss, and muscle maintenance that shows off your fantastically flat stomach with killer abs to boot.

If you’re interested in taking your goal of a flat stomach to an entirely new level visit -http://bellybustingtips.rethinkfatloss.com

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One of the simple ways for attaining fat loss is to follow a low carb diet. The foods you eat should contain more proteins and have a low GI index. This is nothing more than the measure at which glucose from your ingested food is released into the blood stream.

Avoid foods like biscuits, cakes, white pasta, white bread and other carbohydrate based foods. It is also better not to take in foods that contain high amounts of sugar like ice cream and sweetened drinks. Such foods are rich in calories as well. When your body feels short of carbs it starts using the glucose from your body.

You can also achieve weight loss by doing regular exercises. By going through the weight loss regimen properly you will be able to reduce your weight faster. Your workouts should include cardiovascular exercises also that increase your heart rate and burn more fat. You should work out for at least 20 minutes continuously daily for getting the best results. Weight training and circuit training are also good for speeding up weight and fat loss. To make your workout more interesting you can change the type of exercises everyday by alternating various kinds of exercises in your workouts.

Some people talk about using various fat loss products available on the market. However, they may not have the same effect for all. So if they have worked well for one person they may not be the same for you. Do not go by what was good for your friend. Understand your own body and use methods and foods which are suitable for it.

Make sure to drink a lot of water because it is a natural cleanser. It will help you to flush out unwanted toxins from your body. In the same way, use a lot of fat burning foods which can aid in burning more of the unwanted fat. Some of the common fat burning foods are apples, peaches, oats, whole grain, beans, milk, lean meat, eggs, salmon, beef, turkey, green tea, and broccoli. Include these items regularly in your diet and you will be able to reduce you weight when you combine this with regular exercise.

Are you trying to find the best weight loss plan but are confused by all the different solutions? Be sure to visit my site to read my reviews of the Diet Solution Program and Eat Stop Eat.

By Sandy Rutherforde

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandy_Rutherforde

http://EzineArticles.com/?Simple-Ways-To-Achieve-Fat-Loss&id=5587957

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For example, with the Adkins* diet plan people were getting great results by eating super low carbs and then eating what ever they wanted form the “fatty” food category. So by common sense deduction one would have to say that if “fat” was the problem then those people wouldn’t be getting the results they claim to have gotten.

Not until the food industry decided that the very refined sugars and processed fats should be a larger part of our daily food consumption did we see a real problem of fat, that for some can be unmanageable at best.  Now the doctors that were seeing the results of this new food reacted in a way that seemed logical, they wanted people to reduce the amount of fat they eat by large percentage.  Then the thought was, if less is more then keep reducing fat intake until you see results. Eventually this downward spiral in fat consumption would lead to the common wisdom that eliminating all the fat’s from your diet might be a good idea.

Not all fat’s are created equal:

With all this low fat dieting hype something vital was forgotten. Your body actually NEEDS fat to function properly, for some this might come as a shocker. But with that said, certain fat’s can be very harmful, case and point is the recent developments that show that modified fats such as partially hydrogenated oil’s like those in margarine can be actually worse for your health, let alone hindering your fat loss goals. The trick is to eat more of the essential fats like those found in fish oils and flax seed and concentrate on not just eliminating fat but reducing the “fake fats” from your daily food intake.  Fake fats can really set you back in your fat reduction goals because they’re not  metabolized in the same way as healthy fats and thus it can become a sludge in the system that simply weakens the body while adding a few inches to the waistline.

To sum it all up it is better to think in terms of what types of fats you are putting in rather than the amount. And in some cases those healthy fats can actually help, rather then hinder your fat loss goals. So add some knowledge about types of fat to your knowledge base and become empowered to take back your waistline.

Looking for good fat,
Nick

*Atkins is a register trade mark. I personally do not advocate the Atkins way of thinking.
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Understanding the motivation cycle to reduce your body fat percentage:

1. Need for change:  We all have needs as human beings and we all have different reasons and ways that we would prefer to do something. Many times in the “fatloss workout” world the idea is that “your need” is a cookie cutter and they have the exact thing that is needed. Well developing your “why” is very important in discovering your need in reducing the amount of fat you have.
2. Drive or Push:  Once you have your need or reason why and are committed one hundred percent to it then the drive to do the action will be in place.
3. Action:  This is the actual doing part, whether that be walking, cycling/biking, hiking, swimming, jogging. But if that all sounds to complicated then simplify it by simply increasing the amount of daily activity that you do. There are plenty of weightloss books out there that can give you many, many idea’s on what you can do in order to achieve an increase in caloric output. But let me try and illustrate how simple it is for someone to “increase” their activity. For example sake we have a person that sits on the couch all day long only getting up to use the restroom and to get food and water. If they simply added one thing to their day such as walking down to the post office, the store, or around the block this would be an increase. Once that doesn’t seem so bad they could add something else that seemed reasonable until they achieving the desired goal.
   Now the other half of action is the caloric input and there is plenty of resources out there that deal with this so for brevity sake I will just mention that the right kind of foods coupled with increased activity can produce a result a lot bigger then you think. Also rather then reducing the amount of food just simply find some way to get more of the healthy stuff in you.
4. Achievement:  Once your drive and activity give you the result your looking for, it will continue to drive you to continue do what is working, and tweak what doesn’t seem to work.
5. Satisfaction:  This stage is when you can look in the mirror and smile because all your hard work has paid off. Again the old saying holds up that success fuels more success and that holds true when you go from a fat belly to a flat belly.

Developing your fatloss health plan:

After reviewing the above steps in what makes a successful fat loss plan you can then make it personally yours, custom fit for your situation. As you put together your plan consider what your “why” is, that underlying reason for making a change. Once you know that then your set to find those things that you enjoy and that increases your activity.

Less empty calories:

If you are someone that puts a lot of empty calories (cake, muffins, cookies, junk food, etc.) you might look at ways to cut that back and replace it with something else healthier. So for example if I am someone that eats fast food five days a week I might try to cut back to four days and pack a lunch for the 5^th day. I might choose fruit juice over soda pop.  If I am someone that eats 200 cookies a day I might try to cut it back to 190. OK so that last example might be a little extreme but you get the picture. Again small consistent changes is what wins this race not the quick things that you stop doing three days later.

Working Your Plan:

It’s important to note that the source of your motivation may change over time and as those needs change and your life changes it’s good to keep this cycle of motivation in mind and then you can tweak your plan accordingly. Something that might be the case for you, as it was for me, that while jogging or running and really enjoying the results that it is giving you and then injure a leg or ankle, you have to rethink the activities. So take up something like golf or maybe gardening, just something that doesn’t use the injured leg. The main point here is to reassess where you are in the fat loss motivation cycle and keep the activity level at what you had or moving up so your action doesn’t slow down to a complete stop.

Now admittedly it is really tough at times to keep your mind and body in sync after a big set back. Whether that set back be an injury or some other unseen element in life, simply go back to step one and look at how your motivational needs have changed and what really drives you NOW at this place in your life. We are dynamic people and that means we have to give ourselves some flexibility in everything we do to avoid getting stuck.

My hope is that this idea of motivation, whether it be external or internal, breaking it down into steps can help in making this race to loose fat one that you can win. Please leave a comment; I am interested in your thoughts and idea’s. And thanks for stopping by to give this a read I really appreciate it.

Working to be motivated,
-Nick

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A

Easy, Healthy, Fast

• Consider cleansing your body
• Eliminate soda especially diet soda
• Pack a lunch

Cleansing or Detox:

I am a huge advocate of cleansing your body from the toxic build up that happens over the years of not eating exactly like well all know we should. The problem with fatloss and is that the fat in the body stores many bad things that actually can harm your body if they are released into the body all at the same time. If you do a cleans or detox and help get your body back in balance and this also reduces the number of free radicals in the body. Then as your are shedding the fat looking for the permanent fat loss you are able to limit the negative affect of fatloss.

Getting Rid Of Cola Or Carbonated Drinks:

If this is impossible for you to do then I would strongly recommend that you avoid the diet soda of any kind. So you might be asking that why would you say that, I mean dieting is suppose to help you loss weight right. Well that is what some people would like you to think because they put the word diet on the label they automatically have your best interest in mind. What they will not tell you is that the artificial sweeteners in the soda is actually working against you and your fatloss health goals. Recently Pepsi has started making the throw-back Pepsi with real sugar. My theory is that enough people have requested something with out the artificially sweeteners in it that Pepsi figured the marking was wanting something different.

What is best is to drink water or something as close to it as possible. Since your body is composed of a high percentage of this thing called water, by putting more of it in, your body eliminates toxins and free rascals that are building up in your system as you are losing fat weight. Water also helps in muscle function which will ultimately help you burn the fat.

Packing A Lunch:

If you think brown bagging a lunch is something that takes too much time, step back and evaluate what you just said. If packing a luck takes an extra 15 min’s every evening and it can help you drop the fat sooner then later wouldn’t that be worth your time to accelerate your goals. Why go through all this, well to put it simple you can control more effectively the quality and quantity of the food. Most times the time eating out or just snaking for lunch the calories are empty, or put another way they don’t feed the body but rather feed the waistline. So you have a choice you either spend your time in packing the lunch or you will spend more time exercising in order to keep the empty calories from become a part of your waistline.

After all this you might be asking now what? Well again this is one those things that you don’t have to jump into all this all at once. Your goal should being looking for long term results which can lead to permanent fat loss rather than the quick and over inflated results. So take one thing and start implementing it and you would be surprised how just one of these things can make the difference.

Please leave a comment; I am interested in your thoughts and idea’s. And thanks for stopping by to give this a read, it means a lot to me.

Safe and Effective,
-Nick

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Your goal should be to lose fat not weight!

With all the information that you see in the main stream literature about how to lose fat, most people will say that gaining weight is the one thing you want to avoid.  So bear with me when I start talking against the main stream.  The statement that you can gain wait and still lose fat is absolutely true.  And actually it is something that you might want to try to do.   Now you might be asking “how in the world can you say that” since this premise goes so totally against conventional wisdom.

If you lose fat, you gain muscle.

Well simply put, your muscle weighs up to three times more then fat per inch.  Thus you will actually gain weight if you are doing any muscle building activity while you are working to get into shape.  And as you watch your muscle firming up the fat reduction will take care of itself. We all know that muscle is the key to keeping that fat burning machine going at all hours of the day, not just when you are putting concentrated effort into getting rid of the excess fat.

To say “lose fat” is more accurate then “lose weight”.

If you answered “no” to the question “is it possible to gain weight yet lose fat?” then it is very important you realize the difference in these terms and what is behind them.  If you know the difference it will help you to correctly size up some of those claims on how to lose fat that are going around in the internet fitness world.

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Weight loss:

If you say that you’ve lost weighted can really be certain that this is going to get you into the shape that you’re looking for. It’s like saying it’s wet outside but by that statement you can’t tell if it’s raining or the sprinkler is watering the lawn. When it comes getting into shape you can take your clothes off and loose weight according to the bathroom scale but you’re not any closer to the real thing. On top off that you can loose other things that will give you a false sense of accomplishment, namely water and muscle. In short, the term “weight loss” doesn’t tell the whole story and shouldn’t be trusted.

Fat loss:

This is a key term, especially these days with so much information out there. Fat loss is exactly that, getting rid of fat and it accurately states what should be happening when you are trying to get into shape. People that are using this term are truly in the “know” when it comes to this subject and I encourage you to start training your brain to substitute it for “weight loss” in your vocabulary.

Why is this important, well when you are losing weight you can be losing muscle which inch for inch weighs more then fat, some say three times more. Thus the statement of losing 20 pounds of weight in two weeks is a phrase that really means nothing. Any person that claims they can loose 20 pounds in two weeks don’t factor the loss of water and muscle, and losing muscle hurts long term success in fat loss. So when we step back we see that this kind of thinking really changes the context of some of the claims you may hear.

Soooo…!

So the question is what can you do in order to know if your getting the results our looking for, namely fat loss. Well if your cloths are starting to get loss your on the right track but if you are loosing more the a pound or two a week then you are most likely losing more then fat in the number that is showing on your bathroom scale. You might be asking why I say this, well most people do not pack on the fat at 10 and 15 pounds of fat a week so why should they expect them to come off that fast. The human machine just doesn’t have the ability to do that unless your a world class athlete, but if that was the case loosing fat would really be the focus it would be the side affect.

In my humble opinion, dropping lots of fat really fast is simply not that healthy or productive for your long term success. I say this because I have an aunt that would gain a lot of fat and then when she reached a certain point she would get really motivated to eat right and exercise a lot, thus dropping a lot of fat in a matter of of weeks. But as soon as she got down to the size she wanted she would some how loose motivation and momentum. The fat would start coming right back but what was worse is the fact that more fat would return then when she originally started to working on losing it. With that said, our focus shouldn’t be to simply loss fat but to rather target fat at a steady, consistent pace that builds lean muscle. And we all know that lean muscle burns fat very well.

Three simple things you can do to target fat:

Go for a walk– this is by far one of the best ways to ensure that your body is burning fat and not muscle or anything else. Walking is what I like to call the slow, clean burn, plus when you find a walking buddy it can be a lot of fun.

Light weight lifting– don’t have a set of dumbbells, no problem, simply fill some gallon jugs with water or sand and use them to add some resistance to get those muscle working. Also it is key to push your muscle slowly and controlled.

Look at your food– Choose foods that promote muscle building since muscle is the fat burning engine, thus more muscle equals a lot more success for you.

What this all comes down too is finding something that you enjoy doing that increases your activity level and when you start looking at targeting fat and not just loosing weight you never know where it might take you. This focused direction really changes everything just as focused light in a laser can cut steal. And my hope is that after reading this you can start to envision and sculpted the body you really want.

Please leave a comment; I am interested in your thoughts about this idea that fat loss can be weight loss but weight loss can not be a guarantee of fat loss. And thanks for stopping by to give this a read, it means a lot to me.

Looking from a new perspective,
-Nick

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But if we want to succeed in defeating this thing we call “excess fat” we might have to look outside the world of fat loss. Look at your favorite sport and the athlete’s that play them, what is it that makes them successful. Let’s take Olympic athlete’s for example, they can have all the best techniques and all the best training but if they don’t have a “why” to push themselves then I can tell you they wouldn’t be successfully at what they do. This underlying mindset or driving mental force holds them in check so they are the best they can be, not because they want only to be the best but because they enjoy the journey.

Find Your Reason To Succeed In Fat Loss:

So how does this apply to fat loss you might ask? Well if you don’t have your “why” then you are trying to take a short cut that will eventually cut short your determination. This determination is the very thing that you need in order to accomplish and to succeed in the game of fat loss. Some people feel there is no need to solidify their “why” and they can just jump on the expressway to a thinner body but in reality it’s like trying to be an Olympic gold medalist without first learning the fundamentals of their chosen sport.

What should our “why” be and how do we get it? Well for some people their “why” is simply to feel good, improve over-all health, and still others want to simply look good in the clothes they wear. Some people wish to be more active with their kids and family and don’t want to be slowed down by the excess fat they carry around. But whatever your why is it has to be something that will drive you for days and months to come, it needs to come from outside the world of fat loss, and adds to our overall well being.

Three things to help get your “why” right:

1. Look at what things you would like to do but are unable because excess fat slows you down.
2. Consider those people in your life that can benefit, other then yourself, by achieving fat loss goals you may set for yourself.
3. And last but not least can you be passionate about it, because I know of a lot of people that have accomplished seemingly impossible things because they were passionate about their “why” behind the action.

A Word Of Caution:

When you start to consider your “why” don’t make it something that is comparing yourself to anyone else. This could be wanting to be as skinny as your favorite movie star or your cousin Tammy that seems to effortlessly keep trim and slim. This kind of comparison only sets a person up to be discouraged down the line. Also you want it to be something other then to simply to lose fat, yes that is one of the benefits you want from your “why” and it may work in the short run, but it doesn’t make a lasting force behind your mental engine.

We have to have a para-dime shift in how we think about fat loss, or weight loss as some people say (which I personally feel “weight loss” is an incorrect term), because you are unique and your “why” cannot come from a cookie cutter. I strongly believe that most of us don’t succeed because instead of starting out by truly defining our “why” we want to skip right ahead to the when, where, and how.

Reality Check

Now I realize for a few people there may be certain medically diagnosed things that will not allow their body to burn fat as it should naturally. Thus no matter how strong their “why” is they will struggle in keeping the fat gone. But these conditions must be clinically diagnosed and it may need to be addressed before any other action is taken. For the rest of us it really begins in our head. Think of the most awesome buildings or architectural work, painting, or other major accomplishments you have seen or experienced. They all began inside the brain of the visionary who imagines what can be, along with a reason for doing what they do. So why should fat loss be any different when it comes to making the sculptured body that we want.

Some will say I don’t feel like developing my “why” but then all I can say is you are not looking for lasting success but only the quick fix. Most successful people have not always felt like doing what they know they must.  But because they have a good reason “why” that drives them to push past the discouragement they are able to achieve what others do not.

The Secret To Conquer Discouragement:

When dealing with the feelings that sometimes push us in the wrong direction. Simply remember that thought processes supersedes planning which supersedes action which ultimately supersedes feeling. If we allow feeling to come before any of these things then you will most definitely hit a road block. For example, when running five miles a day there was a lot of times that I didn’t feel like doing it but when I gave myself a mental gut check and looked at my “why”(thought process) and the goals (planning) that I made I soon pushed myself to simply go and do (take action). Then after I was done running my feelings about doing changed for the better.

Thus an important principle that we need to hold onto is that your “why” will drive your action that changes your feeling and thus the more you do something the more you will actually enjoy the what your doing. And I honestly believe that this is the order of things that you will see in every successful person.  So until you have really developed your reason “why” you want to succeed in your fat loss goals the rest is simply details. But when you do have your “why” solidified in your own mind it will actually become fun to create your plan and put that plan into action. Then as you see results from your action, feelings of discouragement will lose any hold they have on you even in the face of set backs. With that said, I challenge you to sit down and become the visionary of what you want your body to be and why you want it to be that.

I want to hear what you have to say, please leave a comment.  Also with so many voices speaking on this subject of fat loss I want to let you know I really appreciate your attention in reading this article.

Challenging you to develop your why,
-Nick

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