How To Lose Excess Belly Fat

It is that time of the year when the fog of the holiday season clears, leaving us face to face with its aftermath. We've indulged in rich cakes, turkey and dressing, succulent hams, holiday cookies and more than a few glasses of wine. As we return to our jobs, we can't seem to wonder why our pants fit so snugly. Nonetheless, we scan the Internet and review weight loss programs that promise to show us how to lose excess belly fat. After the 5th diet failure (and many late nights of chocolate chip cookies, potato chips and crying), many of us have found it impossible to lose our belly pooch. Why are most weight loss diets so ineffective, and how did we gain so much weight over the holidays? After all, a few holiday treats here and there can't possibly lead to weight gain, right?

WRONG! Most of the food eaten over the holiday season are loaded with simple carbohydrates (sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, processed sugar). Even diet foods and non-sweet food items such as gravy and lunch meats contain hidden sugar. Over indulging in simple carbohydrates will quickly lead to excess belly fat and weight gain. It elevates insulin levels, increases hunger, and leads to fat storage.

Many people seeking to lose weight include weight loss meal replacements into their regimen. Programs that use these bars and shakes claim to show you how to lose excess belly fat. Yes, they allow you to eat fewer calories and lose a small amount of weight. But they always leave you craving sweets and junk food. These meal replacement bars/shakes are often times loaded with sugar. They advertise that they are low fat, or high protein, but have to add large amounts of sugar just to allow the product not to taste like a piece of wood! A sudden surge of sugar can quickly cause an elevation in insulin levels. Insulin, a hormone, is responsible for regulating fat storage and allows us to convert glucose (sugar) into energy. When we overeat or eat large amounts of sugar, and don't use all of the energy from the meal, our body stores this energy as fat.

Sugary foods also increase your appetite. After we eat a large meal, especially sugar-laden ones, we feel a "burst of energy". This energy burst is often short-lived, causing us to soon feel lethargic, tired and listless. What do we do now? Well, we reach for the next sugary snack of course, because we want to experience that "burst of energy." And this cycle repeats itself over, and over, and over again. Instead of reaching for sugary snacks and diet products packed with sugar, try to eat whole foods; including fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, and small portions of healthy fats. Eating combinations of these foods allow our insulin levels to stabilize, and keeps it this way. It also allows us to keep our energy levels high at all times. Example snack ideas include almonds, whole-wheat or rye bread with peanut butter, peaches and cottage cheese, and bite size apples. Weight loss programs that limit sugar to healthy levels and include all of the food groups in a reduced calorie diet will show you how to lose excess belly fat!
By D.Arrington

Lose Belly Fat Permanently

Every year, Americans spend more than $40 billion dollars on weight loss products, yet over 66% of us remain overweight. There are tens of thousands of diets that claim to be the best program for losing belly fat, promising such things as "lose 30lbs in 2 weeks", and "get washboard abs in 30 days." As soon as these programs hit the stores we gobble them up. We also produce thousands of abdominal machines and exercise programs that declare to be the best exercise for abs. If this were so, why are the companies that produce these products constantly coming out with new gadgets, each time claiming to be "better than the rest"? Let's face it, we are the land of the big-- bellied people. Our conversations at work revolve around how many "points" we have left to eat that day, and of how our wives must have shrunk our pants yesterday while doing the laundry (come on!) Obviously, we are losing the battle of the bulge. But it doesn't have to be this way, there are safe and effective ways to lose weight and get rid of belly fat. There are important key aspects to a weight loss program that most diets fail to discuss. These aspects are maintaining a high, fat burning metabolism, getting the right amount of nutrition and combining the diet with safe, effective exercises. Most diets allow you to lose a quick 5lbs-10lbs. But when continued, your weight loss screatches to a hault. What happened? Most of the diets around today that produce quick weight loss resutls (low fat, low cal, restrictive diets) are very low in calories. Your body is smart, it is desigened to protect itself from dying. It will do anything it can to save its life; including holding on to calories and store fat. This causes a steep drop in your metabolism. These diets also cause your body to feed upon itself, allowing you to lose much needed muscle mass. We all know that muscle mass requires more calories than fat to survive. And with more muscle mass, you could eat larger amounts of food at the same time as losing/mantaining your weight than with extra fat. A diet that INCREASES your metabolism would accelerate your body's natural rate of calorie burning, allowing you to shed excess fat fast.
A diet that includes the right amount of nutrition is often rare to find nowadays. Some diets claim that restricting whole food groups; labeling them as "fat promoting" are the only way to lose weight and flatten your belly. You do manage to lose some weight at the begining of the diet, and even manage to lose a couple of inches. But when you continue to follow this diet, the weight comes back, and you find yourself feeling tired, confused, and achy. Some people have even experienced hair loss, flu--like symptoms, organ failure, and heart attacks. What is going wrong here? Anytime a major food group is eliminated, chances are you are also eliminating important nutrients. These nutrients are key to keeping your organ systems functioning properly. An example would be a diet with low levels of protein, magnesium, pottassuim and zinc. This could affect thyroid function, which is responsible for regulating the metabolism. Diets that restrict nutrients are NOT WORTH IT! You cannot get around eating a balanced diet. A diet that contains all of the needed nutrition and maintains a high fat-burning metabolism would be considered the best program for losing belly fat, and also total body weight.
Combining effective, safe ab exercises and the diet above are KEY to getting rid of belly fat fast. So if you are thinking about buying that new ab--chair--rocker thing, hoping it will shave 5 inches off your waist in a month, think again. Those machines DO NOT BURN FAT! They are even less effective than a couple of sit-ups done with poor form! Most ab machines actually do more harm than good, causing you to injur your back and knees. Some of the best exercises for abs include pilates and yoga. These exercises focus on your core muscles (abs), strengthening, toning and elongating them safley. Pilates and yoga also work the whole body to provide a strong support system for your abs. Other important exercises include whole-body areobics, which burns body fat. This allows you to lose fat off of your abs, revealing the six pack you've had all along!
By performing effective, safe ab exercises and eating a nutritious, metabolism-boosting diet, you WILL lose your belly fat fast!

written by D. Arrington

Why Bother With The Master Cleanse?

There's a lot of buzz surrounding the Master Cleanse. Lately it seems like every Hollywood actress or actor who needs to get in shape is turning to this decades old health system that involves drinking a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.
With all the diets out there to choose from why would anyone bother with the Master Cleanse?
There's two main reasons people like the Master Cleanse. The first (and most obvious) is that it works. The results people are getting with the Master Cleanse border on miraculous, and they are backed by thousands of devoted users who are living testimonials to the effectiveness of the Master Cleanse.
The second reason people choose the Master Cleanse over other diets and wellness programs is that it's fast. The typical person only spends 10 days on the Master Cleanse, compared to other diets that can last months or even years you can see why they choose the Master Cleanse.
Another interesting thing about the Master Cleanse lasting just 10 days is that you only need a short term burst of will power to get through it. Having to sacrifice for months is what makes other diets so hard to stay on, but most people can will their way through 10 days.
What can you expect from 10 days on the Master Cleanse?
Even though most people are going on the Master Cleanse to lose weight quickly, there's many other health benefits to be gained by doing the Master Cleanse. Flushing out your system is what the Master Cleanse is really designed to do. Even back 60 years ago when the Master Cleanse was first invented people had health problems as a result of waste building up inside of them. Today with processed foods, pollution, and all around poor diets our bodies desperately need to be flushed out every once in a while.
When you flush out your body with the Master Cleanse the waste you eliminate will be abnormal. The smell, color, and texture of the waste that comes out of your body shocks some people, so you should be prepared.
If you want to try the Master Cleanse there's more you need to know then just drinking the lemonade mixture for 10 days. In fact most people who try the Master Cleanse without knowing all the steps fail. If you think the Master Cleanse is something you would like to try there's a good book at Mastercleansesecrets.com that you should read before starting the Master Cleanse because it covers the common problems people face, and how to avoid them.

GET RID OF YOUR BELLY FAT FAST

1)EAT A HEALTHY DIET- Diets containing loads of sugar, trans fat and processed foods are detrimental in you quest for a flat midsection. They cause fatuige, an unhealthy increase in insulin levels (causing that infamous crash experienced after a sugary meal) and promote fat storage. Diets containing the proper amounts of lean protien, complex carbs and healthy fats create a sense of fullness. They allow you to eat more food (bulk) that have less calories, resulting in wieght loss! It also stabilizes blood sugar levels, giving you more energy throughout the day

.2)DO WHOLE BODY EXERCISES- Aerobics that use the whole body burn more calories than body-specific exercises. Examples are walking, dancing, using eliptical machines and swimming. These exercises also work and build all of the major muscle groups to support your abs, helping to create a balanced, symetrical body

.3) DO PILATES- Pilates strenghthen and tone the core (abs) and back muscles. This is very important, becuase having a strong back will support a strong, toned midsection and pull in your ab muscles, creating a leaner sillohuoette. Most traditinal floor exercies for the abs do not strengthen the back. Pilates also tones and sculpts the oblique muscles, creating that much desired "V" profile. Instead of adding bulk like traditinal ab exercises, pilates lengthens the ab muscles

.4)BE CONSISTANT!- It didn't take a day to achieve that "beer belly", and it's not giong to take a day to lose belly fat. But by applying these techniques, and bieng CONSISTENT, you will likley see results in as little as 3-4 weeks, and will be able to get rid of your belly fat fast.

By eating a healthy diet, doing whole body exercisesand pilates, and bieng consistant you WILL get rid of your belly fat fast and achieve flatter abs in no time!