Tuesday, April 19, 2011

An Exercise And Eating Log - Keeping You On Track To Weight Loss

There's a lot of power in a logbook or journal...and especially if it comes to how you use it for fat loss.

You and I might not be as in control of what we do as we believe we do...

We don't see first hand what we do each day because we aren't making that little bit of effort to write it down. And as we often think taking notes as hassle we don't realise how crucial it is for a fat loss plan to do it.

The simple truth is that without knowing what you current are doing to try and lose fat, you won't know how to change it to get more success.

Because it is worth the time and patience and then some. A little effort regularly really gives you that insight and awareness...especially when you can then look over all the short entries (not talking about a Dear Diary here!)...and see how far you have come..

And it may be that in a few months all you do is write a one liner or a quick bullet list of what exercises you did...and how you felt you have performed...instead of a line by line table about what calories you saved...

Even the act of writing every day...or at least doing it a few times a week produces a great habit of self-discipline and control...

And it's this that keeps you focussed on your fat loss plan. Even if when you mention it to your friends they might think it sounds like you are a bit obsessive!

Well, as is usually the case they're the ones who could do with losing some pounds, getting into shape and having better discipline!

Just remember: keeping even a one-liner a day log is all you need for you to see how much you workout and if it is matching the changes in your body...

And remember that it also subconsciously reinforces your fat loss plan...and without having to spend more than 5 minutes of your time!

Friday, April 15, 2011

You don't need to worry! It's only one slice of cake

There is going to be an occasion when you'll want to eat some cake...and probably some good cake...

So what do you do?

Well, you eat it

Hold on though...isn't the whole idea to get a flat belly about not eating fatty and sugary food and cakes?

The usual stuff you hear is about taking out all sugary foods and eliminating refined carbs...
But actually the trick is that you don't have to completely cut out sugary foods and beer or wine to lose stomach fat.

You do have to learn to ease off on eating things like chocolate and cake and build the habit of eating healthier options...but going cold turkey on sweet foodwill not last...unless you have large reserves of willpower...

If you have discovered a method to increase your will power then fantastic!. Most likely this is not you and you are faced with The Cake Dilemma

The long-term answer is this:

If you eat something sweet everyday, then you are going to have to limit yourself to 1 cake day a week. No joke. 1 day a week. If you eat cake on more days, chances are you won't lose body fat, because it tends to be that you don't control your diet in other ways...

...so write it in your diary...something like Cake Day on Wednesday... and if a cake eating opportunity arises on this day, yes, you can have the cake.

Every other day, eat something healthier instead or just drink some water...do something that replaces the cake eating and builds a new habit...

Because it's this replacing for something healthier that ultimately will mean that even on the Cake day you won't get the urge so much to eat cake...and if you do still want it well...

Don't be worrying it's only one bit of cake

You are already doing enough to lose those last inches of belly fat. You can happily eat the cake without getting down on yourself.

But remember...there are no short cuts here. You need to reduce your cake eating before you get that feeling of liberation when eating cake...before you know you are already doing enough to lose belly fat...

So pull out the notes app, yes get it out RIGHT NOW.. and make one day a week Cake Day!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Losing Stubborn Belly Fat - Finding Time To Exercise When You Feel It's Impossible

Losing stubborn belly fat can be an uphill battle. You probably have a million things to do each day. Perhaps you have a small child or have a long boring drive from work. And the last thing you want to think about is doing a workout when you at last get home.

So though you know you that you need to some exercise because it helps you lose fat, the time just never seems right for you. Yes, you could try going to the gym before work or after work but you've tried that and it eats into other more important things. That's not a good solution.

It seems like you can't really get any traction. And then you get that feeling, that creeping sense of disappointment. Your goal of losing fat in the time you wanted isn't going to happen.

But you still hope that you can find an easier, quicker way, a short-cut to give you that result.

If any of this sounds familiar then you'll be happy to know that there is a very simple technique that you can use to change this picture. How you can actually get your weekly workouts and start losing stubborn belly fat without taking time away from other commitments.

If you apply this technique you will find that more opportunities seems to appear as if by magic for exercise.

The logic behind this technique is that due to years and years of building habits and having experiences in life, you and I have brief moments during the day when we get a sudden drive to do something. These bursts are remnants of times before when we had the habit of doing something during those moments.

Most of the time, you may not notice it. But when you start to examine it, you see patterns. And by using these patterns you can try to fit in workouts into your schedule.

Because it's highly likely that you have more time than you think you do.

So to find out this information here's what to do:

Make a note of when during the week you got an "slight urge" to exercise

You should get them a few times a week, perhaps even a few a day. Now if the urge was strong enough and you did exercise when you felt like it, great!! If this didn't happen and another thing came up, you at least had the beginnings of a drive to go for it.

But why is this important?

If you know when you most feel like working out, it will only take a little more effort to work out. And then when you start exercising more, you can then expand this to more times when before you didn't have such an urge for it.

And there is no good or bad time. It might be 7 in the morning before the kids are up. It might be 20 minutes high intensity when you get home. Or you do something before lunch.

Just write down when it is and keep making that log for the next 7 days. Try and work out as well, in whatever style you do.

And here's some extra advice: if you can't think how to exercise, then consider doing circuits of simple body weight exercises. Push-ups, crunches, lunges, with and without a medicine ball or weights of any kind. And you might only do it for 10 minutes. Right now the amount of time you spend is less important than the building of a habit to workout at that time.

So, for the action step: get something to be a log (it could even be a Notes application on your laptop, PC, iPhone, Black Berry, whatever) and make this the place where you record these urges. Make sure you fill it in each day.

And lastly: the way you go about losing stubborn belly fat, using exercise as a part of your plan, is by having your own habits and rhythms work WITH you, not against you!!!