This is going to seem like a crazy idea - that you can have sweet stuff like chocolate, cake and biscuits and still lose belly fat!...but it will all make sense in a moment.
The first thing though is why would you want to eat any sugary foods if you were really serious about losing belly fat?
Well, if you try and cut out sweet foods...or "go on a diet" it's not going to stick. It won't last because if you eat enough of chocolate and cake it'll seem hard to fight the habit.
But instead if you train yourself how to use the habit in a way that changes you so you end up eating less sugary food but NOT completely stop you for good AND lose belly fat....isn't that a better option?
This is the key to it. NOT cutting out all these foods is the way that you end up stilll eating them and losing fat...but here's the thing:
You can't keep eating them the way you have been doing and expect that more exercise is going to help you lose belly fat
Doing some exercise will burn some of those calories but mostly it's not going to help you lose all of them. Because you've already spiked your blood sugar and your body is in the process of storing food as fat!
What you should do starting right now is first of all get some evidence about how many times a day or week you eat sweet foods. So make a simple log.
Next what you can do is schedule a treat day, like a Friday. On this day you can eat your little treat.
Then you really DO need to stop eating that food as much as possible...but now here's where I change it up: you make a good attempt to eat another thing that is more healthy instead. If it's really hard start with half and half.
This not only helps you lessen the blood sugar spikes..but it's also a great way to deal with food cravings. You can find out more about this particular part of it here: stop food cravings.
The main technique is to ween yourself off the amount of sweet foods rather than deny yourself them. So you end up still eating them and you lose belly fat.
Try it this week. Find out how much you eat, then choose a day (or at most 2) where you eat that food (or foods). And then eat something else on the other days.
And let me know how you get on by leaving a comment below!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Your Body Weight - A Readily-Available Fat Burning Tool
In this post I will describe to you that your body weight is the greatest workout tool you need to lose those last inches of belly fat in as little as 90 days.
If you start to train using body weight exercises, not only will your workouts be faster and more simple to achieve, but you will also be able to vary the level of difficulty and duration of the exercises with no cost consequence to you. If, on the other hand you do not start using body weight exercises to help you lose stomach fat, you will probably not see any progress in your fat loss hopes and will continue to waste money on ineffective gym sessions.
Why is your body weight so good as a fat shedding tool?
The primary reason is that you can readily adapt your body position to make any ordinary exercise that little bit harder, much more challenging and at the same time focused on your main core muscle groups. You can do this in such as way as to imitate some of the more specific gym equipment.
You can also do it no matter how much you weigh. Obviously if you consider yourself to have fat you can reduce the intensity of a few exercises, but you will also know what is the correct level for you to push to. If you don't, get some advice before you begin.
The second reason is psychological. When you start to train using your body weight, and when you start out to see the results due to the intensity in some positions, both due to enhanced stability or increased repetitions, you get a burst of excitement and creativity. You can start to adapt and try different variations when it applies to training.
This improvisation is vital to how you lose belly fat, as it is a key part in making you stimulated to physically exercise. Ponder how you do the same gym workouts a lot of the time and see how effective they are at motivating you or losing belly fat? Now think how it would really feel to be able to to exercise anywhere devoid of restriction and perceive that it is burning your physique fat.
You can do body weight workouts in a resort space, in the park, in the front space or on a boat. You can also adapt your environment to help.
The variety of body weight exercises to do begin from the simple every day workout routines that we all had to do in PE class at school. These can be:
Consider push-ups for example. You can make these tougher by elevating your lower limbs or by raising a leg up behind you as you do a push-up. You can also do side push-ups or if you are specifically adventurous, one-arm push-ups.
You can, and could, vary the intensity of your body weight exercises, either carrying out high intensity interval training, or gradual body tension workouts, in which you maintain for a few seconds for each and every repetition. This aids strength endurance.
You do not have to use any weights, although if you need to be resourceful you can. Having said that, by incorporating body weight exercises into your workout program, instead of doing specialised gym lessons with fancy shiny new equipment, you should get all the benefits, in actuality, much more added benefits with out the hassle of both the price or making the time for the type.
If you keep using these workouts you could see that your stomach fat, and all body fat, starts to lessen, provided of course you are consuming food correctly. You need to mix the two for effective fat loss.
If you start to train using body weight exercises, not only will your workouts be faster and more simple to achieve, but you will also be able to vary the level of difficulty and duration of the exercises with no cost consequence to you. If, on the other hand you do not start using body weight exercises to help you lose stomach fat, you will probably not see any progress in your fat loss hopes and will continue to waste money on ineffective gym sessions.
Why is your body weight so good as a fat shedding tool?
The primary reason is that you can readily adapt your body position to make any ordinary exercise that little bit harder, much more challenging and at the same time focused on your main core muscle groups. You can do this in such as way as to imitate some of the more specific gym equipment.
You can also do it no matter how much you weigh. Obviously if you consider yourself to have fat you can reduce the intensity of a few exercises, but you will also know what is the correct level for you to push to. If you don't, get some advice before you begin.
The second reason is psychological. When you start to train using your body weight, and when you start out to see the results due to the intensity in some positions, both due to enhanced stability or increased repetitions, you get a burst of excitement and creativity. You can start to adapt and try different variations when it applies to training.
This improvisation is vital to how you lose belly fat, as it is a key part in making you stimulated to physically exercise. Ponder how you do the same gym workouts a lot of the time and see how effective they are at motivating you or losing belly fat? Now think how it would really feel to be able to to exercise anywhere devoid of restriction and perceive that it is burning your physique fat.
You can do body weight workouts in a resort space, in the park, in the front space or on a boat. You can also adapt your environment to help.
The variety of body weight exercises to do begin from the simple every day workout routines that we all had to do in PE class at school. These can be:
- Push-ups
- Sit-ups
- Running On The Spot
- Lunges
Consider push-ups for example. You can make these tougher by elevating your lower limbs or by raising a leg up behind you as you do a push-up. You can also do side push-ups or if you are specifically adventurous, one-arm push-ups.
You can, and could, vary the intensity of your body weight exercises, either carrying out high intensity interval training, or gradual body tension workouts, in which you maintain for a few seconds for each and every repetition. This aids strength endurance.
You do not have to use any weights, although if you need to be resourceful you can. Having said that, by incorporating body weight exercises into your workout program, instead of doing specialised gym lessons with fancy shiny new equipment, you should get all the benefits, in actuality, much more added benefits with out the hassle of both the price or making the time for the type.
If you keep using these workouts you could see that your stomach fat, and all body fat, starts to lessen, provided of course you are consuming food correctly. You need to mix the two for effective fat loss.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
The Simplest Thing To Do Start Losing Belly Fat
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Changing How You Eat To Lose Weight And The Doubt That Comes With It
You know that feeling you get when you hear about how you need to 5-6 times a day to lose weight?
Or maybe you read some of my stuff where it says that a great way to lose weight is to eat 4 times a day...as it's actually easier to learn and do...but you get that that "ehhh I don't know" in your mind?
Well, I can recall from my own experience of being on the other end wanting to lose my last inch of belly fat, that the concept of eating more meals a day just seemed to be hassle. Unnecessary even.
I mean, you may be thinking..."I'm eating enough at the moment" or maybe you think that you are eating way too much, and you already know that this is the reason you are putting on weight?
How can eating more possibly help?
The real truth is going to be a bit of a mix of what you knew and something else. The secret to losing fat is to eat more. You eat to burn calories.
And think about this: if you don't change how you eat then you won't change your current weight...and it doesn't matter how much you try and work out.
So learning to, at least, see how you eat and how much food you eat gives you an edge over every one else who's struggling...because they don't really see exactly what and how they eat. They just have an image, a story of what they think they are eating.
The first stage before you even make a plan to change how you eat...is to get some evidence of what you are eating and the way you eat.
And the easiest way is to make a journal each day.
Now you'll probably get a rush of "ah no that's just hassle...I don't need to do that"...and it's natural for this reaction. But here's the thing:
What's the real harm in seeing in black and white how you eat, what you eat and when you eat?
What harm are you going to do yourself by getting this knowledge?
The answer is of course: none!
It will do you no harm at all...but it will do you a world of good!..because you will get to see the pattern of how you eat...and remember what you want to do is eat to burn calories
And here's just a rough guess:
Now how do I know this?
Well...this is what I used to eat. I didn't eat a whole lot of processed foods, but I ate enough and in a pattern like this that it meant that my blood sugar level didn't stay steady during the day...so I didn't lose weight.
Because it leads to spikes in your insulin levels
Which then makes you start to turn your food into fat. The quicker the spikes, the quicker the onset of turning the food you eat into fat.
So before you learn to keep that blood sugar more level to help you store less fat...hence the idea of eating to burn calories....go find out exactly what and how you eat.
It might just be the biggest revelation you get all year!
Or maybe you read some of my stuff where it says that a great way to lose weight is to eat 4 times a day...as it's actually easier to learn and do...but you get that that "ehhh I don't know" in your mind?
Well, I can recall from my own experience of being on the other end wanting to lose my last inch of belly fat, that the concept of eating more meals a day just seemed to be hassle. Unnecessary even.
I mean, you may be thinking..."I'm eating enough at the moment" or maybe you think that you are eating way too much, and you already know that this is the reason you are putting on weight?
How can eating more possibly help?
The real truth is going to be a bit of a mix of what you knew and something else. The secret to losing fat is to eat more. You eat to burn calories.
And think about this: if you don't change how you eat then you won't change your current weight...and it doesn't matter how much you try and work out.
So learning to, at least, see how you eat and how much food you eat gives you an edge over every one else who's struggling...because they don't really see exactly what and how they eat. They just have an image, a story of what they think they are eating.
The first stage before you even make a plan to change how you eat...is to get some evidence of what you are eating and the way you eat.
And the easiest way is to make a journal each day.
Now you'll probably get a rush of "ah no that's just hassle...I don't need to do that"...and it's natural for this reaction. But here's the thing:
What's the real harm in seeing in black and white how you eat, what you eat and when you eat?
What harm are you going to do yourself by getting this knowledge?
The answer is of course: none!
It will do you no harm at all...but it will do you a world of good!..because you will get to see the pattern of how you eat...and remember what you want to do is eat to burn calories
And here's just a rough guess:
- You will probably see you aren't eating a proper breakfast
- You will probably be having a bit more fatty foods, chocolate bars or muffins during the day.
- You will probably be eating a BIG dinner packed with refined carbs like white bread, pizza base, chips (of the fries variety) or white rice
Now how do I know this?
Well...this is what I used to eat. I didn't eat a whole lot of processed foods, but I ate enough and in a pattern like this that it meant that my blood sugar level didn't stay steady during the day...so I didn't lose weight.
Because it leads to spikes in your insulin levels
Which then makes you start to turn your food into fat. The quicker the spikes, the quicker the onset of turning the food you eat into fat.
So before you learn to keep that blood sugar more level to help you store less fat...hence the idea of eating to burn calories....go find out exactly what and how you eat.
It might just be the biggest revelation you get all year!
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!
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!
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!!!
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!!!
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