Lose Belly Fat Fast

Archive for November, 2009

Weight training – it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of weight loss exercise, but it is never the less very effective for that purpose. The reason weight training doesn’t jump as the exercise to do to lose weight is because there are many exercise you can do, all of which would be referred to as weight training but not all of them are effective for burning fat. So people might be thinking of different things when they hear the term.

I remember reading a quote from some Chinese philosopher along the lines of: “People would solve half of their problems if they learned to call things the same name” and it couldn’t be more true in this case. For example someone doing bicep curls would most likely say that they are doing weight training, as would someone who’s trying to bench press an enormous amount, as will someone who’s doing circuit training with weights. Yet those exercise have a completely different purpose and produce different results.

So, what makes weight training good for weight loss, and what kind of exercise should one do if losing weight is the goal? Well, as I’ve mentioned several times throughout this blog cardio exercise have a limited usefulness time window during which they are very effective (read: Cardio Exercise – the good and the bad ) After your fitness gets to a certain level you will have to spend more and more time doing cardio to maintain results.

Now if you don’t want to spend half a day on a treadmill (and who does?) you have change something – you need to do exercise that are harder for you to do. One way to do this is to do exercise at high(er) intensity levels – like interval training. the other way is to use weight training. Also, weight training also accomplishes a side goal of looking muscular, so that’s nice as well.

In my next post I’ll touch on which weight training exercise are effective for weight loss, and which aren’t, so be sure to check it out!

Should you do cardio work outs like jogging or ridding a bike if your goal is to lose weight? One one hand jogging, running on a treadmill or taking a spin class are done by many people who want to lose weight or stay in shape. On the other hand you can’t help but wonder if slowly running on a treadmill for an hour is really the best way to spend that time when it comes to working out. I’ve touched on those topics in previous posts: Running to lose weight and Effective weight loss exercise But this one is going to look at it from a bit different perspective.

The Good

Cardio exercise bring a number of other benefits which makes them a must have for any work out program. Running or biking improves your stamina, heart and the general cardiovascular system as well as the general fitness level of your body. Cardio also forms a foundation that is required for all exercise that have any sort of speed element to them. After all, if you can’t slowly run for half an hour, doing exercise at a fast pace will just do more harm than good.

The Bad

While there are some pluses to working out at a moderate pace as far as weight loss goes. It should be obvious to anyone that working at a higher pace equals working harder which results in more energy spent and more calories burned. Running as fastas you can for 10 minutes, you will burn much more calories than if you slowly jog for the same 10 minutes. So sadly, cardio exercise do not produce the best results as far as weight loss is concerned.

The Ugly

Come on, you knew this one was coming There isn’t really anything about cardio that could qualify for the ugly section. However since I was too tempted to add the “the ugly” I have to put something here! I would say that general awareness of the good and the bad of cardio is very lacking, which somewhat qualifies it for this part. A lot of people don’t seem to realize that there are better exercise for weight loss than running or biking. And while running is an excellent exercise, running 5 days a week for an hour or more at a time really isn’t the best way to spend your time, if your goal is weight loss.

That’s about wraps it up. Cardio is great and a must for any work out program, but it’s not the be all that some people make it out to be. As always, a healthy mix of exercise is the best.

Dark chocolate is indeed good for you. Surprised? I know I was somewhat surprised. I mean, it’s chocolate, dark or not I’d assume that it is about as good for you as a any other candy bar. Apparently I was wrong, according to an article that was recently posted on Yahoo news titled “25 ridiculously healthy foods” dark chocolate made #25. Here’s the part about dark chocolate:

“25. Dark chocolate
Thank you, dark chocolate, for making us feel good—not guilty—about dessert. Dark chocolate is filled with flavonoid antioxidants (more than three times the amount in milk chocolate) that keep blood platelets from sticking together and may even unclog your arteries.It may also help with weight loss by keeping you feeling full, according to a study from Denmark. Researchers gave 16 participants 100 g of either dark or milk chocolate and two hours later offered them pizza. Those who consumed the dark chocolate ate 15 percent fewer calories than those who had milk chocolate, and they were less interested in fatty, salty and sugary foods.

Try a chocolate with 70 percent or more cocoa. Two tablespoons of dark chocolate chips with fresh berries as a midafternoon snack or after-dinner dessert should give you some of the heart-healthy benefits without busting your calorie budget.”

You can read about what other 24 foods made this lis by following this link: 25 Healthy Foods

Of course one must always keep in mind the fact that while theoretically the foods listed in that article are good, the reality may not always be that way. But that is a subject for a later date.