Lose Belly Fat Fast

Archive for December, 2009

It’s almost the end of the year which means it’s that time again – time for a new year’s resolution! If you are like most people then chances are your resolution is little more than some dream or wishful thinking and you highly doubt it will actually happen. But there is a way to actually not only accomplish your resolution but to also use this symbolic time to give a boost to your motivation. After all accomplishing a goal is all about the mind set, especially when it comes to weight loss.

I was talking about this subject with a friend recently, I jokingly asked him if he had any resolutions for the upcoming year, to which he replied that those resolutions were a waste of time since they never come true. I told him that the reason for that is due to people choosing end goals as their resolutions instead of a way to get there. In order to make your new year’s resolution more than just wishful thinking you have to focus on a way to get to your goal, not the goal itself.

For example, if your goal is to lose 50 pounds in the coming year, than instead of making that goal your resolution for 2010 your resolution should be to take steps to get to your goal. Ie. you’ll join a gym and work out twice a week before the end of January, you’ll stop eating (some of the) junk food you eat today and switch to a more healthy diet, you’ll be more active and spend more time outdoors during the summer, etc. etc.

Not only is a resolution like that gives you a step by step guide as to what you should be doing, but it also gives you mini goals to accomplish to help keep you motivated. Sure it may not be as exciting as focusing on the end goal, but if your resolution is to “lose 50 pounds this year” yet you have no plans to make any steps towards actually accomplishing that goal then it’s not a goal, it’s a dream.

I wish you all a Happy New Year! Make this year the one where you accomplish your new year’s resolutions, whatever they might be!

It only seems natural that I am writing about this topic seeing how I’ve just spent half an hour shoveling snow! Pretty nice work out let me tell you. I am sure we have all herd that you can lose a pretty impressive number of calories if you just change a few things in your every day life. The most popular and well known of which is probably the “Park your car at the far end of the parking lot and walk to work.” The second most known advice is the “Take the stairs instead of waiting for a lift.”

Those are two good suggestions, doing this will result in some calories burned and over time it could add up. But it doesn’t have to stop here. You could change your lifestyle to be more active. Instead of watching TV for fun why not go explore your city or visit an art gallery? Instead of sitting on a couch you will spend a few hours walking. Spend too much time playing video games? Get yourself a wii. Now it doesn’t come close to replacing real exercise but it certainly beats sitting in a chair playing PS3 or Xbox.

If that doesn’t appeal to you, and I am not too big on art galleries myself, why not take up some sport as a hobby? Yoga is a popular option – you get improved flexibility, relax mentally and lose some weight – not bad at all. Or how about taking a dance class or some other group class? You’ll meet some new people and make some new friends, all the while losing weight.

OK, so this is going beyond the more common “park far and walk” advice, but losing weight and staying fit is a long journey and it helps if your life style supports it. Besides, you might enjoy taking dance classes just as much as you enjoy watching “Dancing With The Stars” so why not give a more active life style a try?

Weight training is great for weight loss, in fact it’s one of the best methods to lose those last few pesky pounds. It is also great for getting a toned body with lean muscles. Unfortunately many women don’t take advantage of this excellent training regime. Dare I say it many women are afraid to even touch weights! I guess it’s a combination of the media telling women that they need to look like a walking skeleton to be considered “beautiful” size 2 super modles being photoshoped to look even thinner. And last but not least the believe held by many women that by just touching weights they will immediately become as muscular as Schwarzenegger.

The last point is the one I wish to examine more closely. Although suffice to say that you don’t need to have a body of a runway model to be considered beautiful, if anything having some lean muscle mass will make you more beautiful. But back to the last point, why are so many women afraid that that will look like professional body builders if they do any exercise with weights? I don’t know. I mean you have a whole gym full of guys who want to “look big” and most of them don’t look big at all. Combine it with the fact that men have much higher testosterone levels than women, and I am truly at a loss as to where women get this notion.

None the less it is a concern to many women and one that keeps them away from using and reaping the benefits of weight training. So it’s probably a good idea to address it – Ladies, unless you are working out with weights 3 hours a day or more, 5 days a week you will never look too muscular. Even if you are working out 3 hours a day 5 days a week chances are you won’t get anywhere close to pro female body builders (What are steroids, Alex.)

So stop being concerned about becoming too muscular and give weight training a try. Of course, I mean real weight training not those pink 1 pound dumbbells. You want to do compound exercise with about 70-80% of your max. This will both give you a great work out that will burn a lot of calories and stimulate your body to build lean muscles.

Weight training is a great method, don’t be afraid to use it in your work outs and reap the benefits it provides!