5 Facts You MUST Understand if You Are Ever Going to Lose Your Belly Fat and Get Six Pack Abs
1. Many so-called "health foods" are actually cleverly disguised junk foods that actually stimulate you to gain more belly fat... yet the diet food marketing industry continues to lie to you so they can maximize their profits.
2. Ab exercises like crunches, sit-ups, and ab machines are the LEAST effective method of getting flat six pack abs. We'll explore what types of exercises REALLY work in a minute.
3. Boring repetitive cardio exercise routines are NOT the best way to lose body fat and uncover those six pack abs. I'll show you the exact types of unique workouts that produce 10x better results below.
4. You DON'T need to waste your money on expensive "extreme fat burner" pills (that don't work) or other bogus supplements. A special class of natural foods is much more effective. I'll tell you about these natural foods and their powers below.
5. Ab belts, ab-rockers, ab-loungers, and other infomercial ab-gimmicks... they're all a complete waste of your time and money. Despite the misleading infomercials, the perfectly chiseled fitness models in the commercials did NOT get their perfect body by using that "ab contraption"... they got their perfect body through REAL workouts and REAL nutrition strategies
Most common guess...
You've already tried every "miracle diet" that's come along and nothing has worked to help you shed that excess tummy fat, right?
You've probably also done all of the hundreds of crunches, situps, leg lifts, and other useless abs exercises, and that stomach of yours doesn't seem any flatter, does it?
You might also think that anything labeled at the grocery store as "low fat", "sugar free", "low-carb", or "whole grain" are good for you, right? Think again! You've been deceived by the clever marketing of huge multi-millions minting food corporations...
FACT - Did you know that most foods labeled as "sugar free" or "low-carb" actually contain artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, and other additives that create a hormonal mess inside your body, actually stimulating your body to STORE more belly fat and stimulate cravings! And foods labeled "whole grain" only have to contain a small fraction of whole grains where the majority can still be refined starches and sugars that spike your blood sugar faster than a sugar-laden soda!
What About Ab Machines?
You may also have tried a couple of those crappy "abdominizer machines" or "ab rocker-roller-lounger" gadgets you saw on the late night infomercial[stupid & misleading commercials like Tele Brands] , yet you still see no signs of toned abs developing, right? And don't even get me started on those worthless "ab-belts"!
You've probably also done the hours and hours of boring cardio in the past, and that didn't seem to strip off the unsightly belly fat either, right?
And you were just flat out scammed at the supplement store when you bought those "advanced fat burner" pills that you saw in the clever magazine ad...
FACT - Did you know that supplements like the bogus fat burner pills aren't even regulated in the US and many developed countries to assure that there's even any active ingredients at all in the pills?
Yes, according to US and various international laws law there's no oversight or regulation of supplement companies to assure that their claims are accurate or that they are even honest about what's in the bottle. With several thousand supplement companies, that leaves room for a lot of scam artists and a LOT of worthless products that don't cause any fat loss in your body at all.
Well, that was a waste of money!
So... If Hours of Cardio, Hundreds of Crunches, 1000's of Money of Wasted Fat-Burner Pills, and the Gimmick Ab-Belts & Abdominizer Machines Don't Work... What Does Work to Get That
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With so many facts and fiction about fat loss, it is not surpising that people get confused which advice to follow. Although this article is not intended as an exhaustive source of information about what is true and what is false about fat loss, we hope that it will help you to distinguish myths from facts.
Myth: Don't drink much water, you will get fat.
Facts: Natural water has absolutely no calories, so it can't be converted to fat. Actually, water dissolves fat. Besides, water is vital for the proper functioning of your body. If there is a relation between drinking much water and weight, it is a very indirect one and water can't be blamed for that. When you drink water and it stays in your body, it's absolutely logical that your weight will be higher but after a couple of hours, when water normally leaves your body, you will not have more fat because you have drunk water.
Myth: Exercise makes you eat more.
Facts: Sure, when you exercise, you lose energy but that does not mean that right after going out of the gym you must head to the restaurant. Experts often recommend that you neither eat, nor drink galons of water at least 2 hours after physical activity. So if you don't eat after you have been exercising, you will not gain weight.
Myth: Diet only is enough to lose fat.
Facts: Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that. After you have been on a diet for some time, even if there had been positive results, there is always one point when even if you don't eat at all (which is absolutely not recommended), your body refuses to use more of its fat reserved and you can't lose a gram more. At this point, or even better from the very beginning, you must include exercise, because diets alone can't burn enough fat.
Myth: There are magic diets and pills.
Facts: Too good to be true. Magic diets like „eat this and this and 10 a.m. sharp, don't eat this and this and you will have the body of a god“ are really naive and besides keeping your mind busy through the day, other positive results are unlikely. The same applies to pills. Unless you have a serious metabolism disorder, which is a medical condition and needs to be treated by doctors, not by you, pills are not the lazy way to great body.
Myth: Herbal products are safe.
Facts: Although herbal products are not synthetic pills, they are still a medicine that probably has a lot of undesired side-effects. Herbal products can be dangerous and the fact that they are sold on the market is not a guarantee that they will not damage your health.
Myth: When you exercise hard, you can eat whatever you like.
Facts: This is the opposite to the dieting myth but the grain of truth is the same. Even when you exercise hard (2 or more hours a day) you still need to take into account what you eat and when you eat it. 2 hours of active exercising might burn enough fat but if you have a giant pizza and a huge bottle of Coke after that, forget about the positive effects of the stay in the gym – you will still have fat (though presumably more muscles as well).
Myth: You can lose fat only in a particular region of your body.
Facts: If you have seen many people with thin legs and a fat belly, or the opposite, more likely it is so not because they want it but because this is their body structure (which they probably don't like at all). When you lose fat, this happens in a pre-defined order. First, fat disappears from the face and the breasts. The belly and the hips come next. The thighs and the upper-arm usually are the last ones affected and for many women these areas never become fat-free.
Myth: Diets and exercise are universal.
Facts: People are different and diets and exercise are not an exception. While there are universally true facts about dieting and exercise, more often than not, successful and sustainable fat loss is achieved when you are hard-working and diets and exercise are tailored to your needs.
Myth: You can lose fat once and forever.
Facts: This hardly ever happens, though there are cases when one has been fat during puberty and as an adult his or her weight is in the norm. But for adults, losing fat means a constant struggle to maintain the achievements, so you can't rely on the fact that you will make some efforts, drop your excessive weight and then there will be no need to do anything.
By using these little-known dietary tricks and workout techniques,
The fastest possible way to lose weight is by doing what many dieters unintentionally do, that is to quickly reduce body water. In fact dieters that choose to follow many of the latest, most fashionable diet become blinded by the results they see on the weighing scale, unaware that they are losing predominantly water. Becoming more motivated by the regular drop on the scales they then wonder what’s going wrong when the weight starts to creep back on. This type of dieter constantly proves that this is far from the quickest way to lose weight because when fluid is simply gained back are back where they started.
But why is water weight loss the quickest way to lose weight?
We lose weight quickly because a loss of water is the result of physiological changes that occur when the body adapts to a reduction in the supply of energy.
There are a few ways the body can lose water weight quickly....
The net reduction of glycogen levels within muscles. If we don’t eat as many carbs as before the muscle stores gradually decline. Because every gram of stored carbs holds 3 grams of water the result is a net loss of fluid.
The gradual breakdown of muscle protein that is inevitable when losing weight. Protein in muscle holds up to 4 times its weight in fluid, again a net loss results in water loss.
Rid excess sodium from the body. A high sodium intake, which is common in the diets of western society, helps cause some water retention. Eating less food will naturally reduce intake of sodium thus resulting in another loss of fluid.
Less fluid intake due to less food intake. All food contains some fluid and eating less food means less fluid consumed. Taking less fluid than the body loses can be the quickest way to lose weight. It can also be the most dangerous if fluid is not replaced adequately!
No matter what technique we use to lose weight we will always experience the first three processes to some extent, and result in some loss of water weight. If food intake is reduced too much then all these processes can be speeded up ten-fold. All of the processes occurring constantly will help to lose weight the quickest and cause the dieter to believe they have done very well on a new diet. In fact, no fast weight loss could ever be fat loss because fat simply cannot be burned that quickly.
Changing the odds
When we exercise regularly we force the body to hold onto some of the protein losses thus it limits the amount of fluid lost in the second point above. In fact we should be trying to stop as much as possible the loss of protein because this will only lower the metabolism and cause weight loss to slow down. This emphasizes the importance of exercise for losing weight.
If a complex carb intake is kept sufficient and NOT lowered too much then it’ll help keep glycogen levels normal thus less water will be lost.
So in reality, the quickest way to lose weight would be to reduce fat stores gradually, because once fat is lost its much easier to keep it off. A majority of fluid losses would mean weight regain when fluid is replenished
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Don't weigh yourself too often use the tape measure and the fit of your clothes to monitor weight loss progress. Your weight fluctuates constantly and you can weigh more at night than you did in the morning, a downer if you stuck to your diet all day.
Eat a light carbohydrate snack 30 minutes before a meal it will fill you up quicker so you eat less.
Keep plenty of crunchy foods like raw vegetables and air-popped fat-free popcorn on hand. They're high in fibre, satisfying and filling.
weight loss is easier with a friend,caring people who can help motivate each other succeed.
If you monitor what you eat you can't go off your diet.
Don't shop when you're hungry. You'll only buy more fattening food.
Avoid finger foods that are easy to eat in large amounts.
Avoid consuming large quantities of fattening liquids, which are so easy to overdo.
Consume nuts only in small portions they are up to 50% fat and have a high calorie count
Leave something on your plate its a good sign that you can stop eating if you need to.
Always eat at the table, never in front of the TV set or with the radio on.
Concentrate on chewing every mouthful slowly, chew each mouthful up to 10 times.
Sit ups and crunches are more anaerobic in nature, which means they tend to burn more carbohydrates rather than the fat from the stomach.
If someone did 25 sit ups every day the stomach muscles will simply tone up. The problem is these toned up muscles go unnoticed due to the fat that surrounds the mid-section.
You should to burn off most excess fat first by starting with low-intensity, high-duration aerobic exercise then start to strengthen the muscles to make then thicker and more visible.
REMEMBER:--Developing a lean, flat stomach takes time and patience, especially when it comes to those last few pounds in those hard to lose places. The lower abdominal fat and "love handles" can be two of the most stubborn and exercise-resistant areas from which to lose abdominal fat. Some people slave away day in and day out on the latest new-fangled abdominal fat device or do countless sit ups, side bends, and leg raises every day, all to no avail. There is only one way to lose fat in the so-called "stubborn areas," and that is with the correct combination of proper diet, aerobic exercise, abdominal training, and weight training.
The first thing you need to realize is that it is impossible to "spot reduce" fat from one specific part of the body. Fat loss occurs systemically, meaning that you can’t control where the fat comes from. When you burn fat for energy, you will draw it from all areas of the body, and the first place you tend to put it on will be the last place it comes off. The reason everyone has those "stubborn" spots is because each of us is born with a genetic pattern of fat storage, just as we inherit hair color, eye color, and other physical traits. In women, the stubborn areas tend to be hips, thighs, and the waist. In men, the troublesome areas are usually the lower abs and the "love handles."
Many people labor away month after month trying to exercise specific areas of their body with the idea that fat will be burned directly off the area they are working. Training the abdominals every day with hundreds of repetitions will certainly tighten and tone the muscles, but it will do almost nothing to remove the fat obscuring the muscles. In fact, it is possible to have a great set of abs that you can’t even see because they are covered up with a layer of fat!
Contrary to popular belief, the best way to burn the layer of flab from your midsection is not to do more abdominal exercise, but to do more cardiovascular exercise. Aerobic exercise is the real secret to burning fat. Walking, jogging, bicycling, elliptical exercise and stairclimbing are all great fat burners. Most people give up too early in the fat burning workout. During the first 10 minutes of aerobic activity, glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is the primary fuel source. If you stop after 20 minutes, you’re only getting half of your workout done! You get the cardiovascular health benefits, but you don’t get much fat loss. Because you don't burn significant amounts of fat until glycogen stores are depleted, the key to maximum fat loss is to work out aerobically for 30-60 minutes continuously per session. Don't worry though every workout should be easy, like strolling around the shopping malls for an hour can be beneficial, although it would be best if you try not to stop moving!
Even if you’re doing cardio every day, without a good balanced diet, you still won’t see results. Abdominal fat loss is a 50% exercise, 50% nutrition combination. A fat loss diet must be low in calories. Regardless of how much you workout, if the number of calories you take in is greater than the amount you burn, you’ll still put on abdominal fat. Ideally, you should spread your calories out into five small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 big ones so that you don’t overeat in one feeding. Eat a variety of foods that are all natural, low in fat and low in sugar, with about 55% of the calories coming from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 15% from fat. If you’re having a really difficult time losing the last few pounds, keep the protein up and decrease your carbohydrate intake, especially late in the day and at night.
Next to "spot reduction," the second most common myth about abdominal training is that sit ups and leg raises are the most effective exercises. Actually, these movements don’t even isolate the abs; they recruit the hip flexor muscles, which are the same muscles used to punt a football. The hip flexors attach the thigh to the spinal column, so working them with exercises such as straight leg raises creates a strong pull on the lumbar area, which is one of the most common causes of lower back pain. Safer, more effective alternatives are crunches, crunch machines (or ab rollers), hip lifts, and reverse crunches.
The final component of your abdominal fat-reducing program is resistance training. It is important to train the entire body. Working one muscle group to the exclusion of others is a common cause of muscular imbalance. Building strong abdominals without also developing the antagonistic spinal erectors of the lower back could easily lead to injury. Many people are under the impression that they should only do cardiovascular activities until the weight comes off, then add weight training later on. It’s true that weight training is an anaerobic exercise, so it burns more glycogen than body fat. However, working out with weights will increase your lean body mass, which in turn raises your resting metabolic rate. The faster your metabolism is, the more fat you will burn! A complete program should always include aerobic exercise and weight training for every muscle group.
Before you decide to resort to drastic measures, give these guidelines an honest try. Losing abdominal fat is not easy, but it is simple if you know the formula. To recap, the formula for losing the last few pounds of abdominal fat is as follows: (1) Losing fat takes time, so get started now! Be patient and don’t expect to get "ultra lean" overnight (2) Burn the fat off the abdominal muscles with lots of cardiovascular exercise or you won’t be able to see them. (3) Choose biomechanically correct exercises to train the abdominal area, including crunching type exercises and avoiding hip flexor exercises, (4) Eat natural, low fat, low sugar, low calorie foods in small servings throughout the day, and (5) Work out with weights; don’t just train your abdominal, train your entire body.
There's no need to spend hours in a gym to train your entire body
Over the last 10 years of proven training and consulting hundreds oF subjects on nutrition research, quite a few patterns started to be noticed that most were falling into many of the same traps.
1. Cutting out mostly fat intake alone doesn't guarantee weight loss success, it's possible to still store fat if you consume too carbohydrates at each meal.
2. Drinking water throughout the day can help revitalize the body's cells and enable them to operate more efficiently giving you more energy for exercising to burn off fat.
3. As we lose weight, it becomes harder to lose even more until eventually we hit that dreaded plateau. For this reason, we should be changing exercise routines and diets on a regular basis in order to adjust for those physiological changes!
4. Using the scales in order to monitor progress is one mistake many dieters make. They place too much emphasis on losing weight over losing body fat. You should concentrate on losing body fat AND try to maintain lean body weight. When this happens our body composition changes, leaving us lean, shapely and fit. With an increased metabolism it enables us to keep the fat weight off for years to come!
5. The secret to keeping up regular exercise is to make it fun rather than seeing it as a chore that must be done. The trick is to take up an activity with a friend, maybe tennis, swimming or bowling. This can be good for both, as one can motivate the other at difficult times when you feel drained. Making it fun will keep you motivated to having fun and enjoying rather than exercising, and before you know it the weight will soon come off.
6. Fat contains more than twice the amount of calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates. So the reason behind cutting out most fat in the diet is that you will automatically reduce energy intake without reducing food intake too much.
7. From a health standpoint, polyunsaturated and unsaturated fats are better for us than saturated fats. However, for weight control purposes, all fats and oils contain the same amount of energy, thus you should be looking at reducing them when trying to lose weight.
8. The fats and oils present in most food gives it that satisfying taste. This is probably the reason why our favourite foods are usually the ones that we should avoid when trying to lose weight.
9. Performing intense anaerobic exercises such as weight training, does not burn fat directly but, it could elevate the metabolism for some time after the workout has finished. How much the metabolism rises will depend on the individual and how hard they train during the workout.
10. To burn fat directly we should be exercising continuously, and at low levels of effort for at least 20 minutes. As a guide, you should be able to hold a conversation during training. If this is not possible, due to heavy breathing, then you're probably exercising too hard and will not be burning off excess fat for energy. Walking is an example of a good fat-burning exercise.
