How to Flatten Your Abs!

When it comes to losing weight and getting trim, the so-called Holy Grail for most individuals is getting flat abs. Specifically, they’re called six-pack abs – abs that you can shred cheese on. There are dozens of companies that offer medications, gels, food, and exercise equipment that is specifically designed and marketed to help you achieve six-pack abs.

If you’re one of the millions that have bought something from one of these companies, or you do hundreds of crunches a day and have seen no major results – we might have the answer for you.

Ab exercises are not enough!

If you’ve been working out for a while, you probably have discovered that crunches alone are not enough to flatten your abs. It is important to work on your abs, but if they are covered by a layer of fat you’ll never see them show up. Some may not know this, but “spot reducing” doesn’t work. This means that you can’t concentrate on one part of your body and expect to see results from that work alone. Your body is not designed to be “forced” to lose weight in a specific area by exercising that area – what you should be doing is focusing on losing body fat as a whole and gaining/toning muscle.

Change Your Diet:

The first thing to do to lose body fat is to change your diet. You can always decrease calories by participating in daily activities like walking, climbing stairs, etc., but unless you consume less calories – you’ll never shed the pounds.

Eat frequently:

 You may be thinking, what? But it’s true. Eating several small meals throughout your day will boost your metabolism, which helps your burn more calories. Meal replacements like protein bars should be used as snacks between meals instead of traditional calorie heavy snacks.

Eat less calories:

 Cookies are great, but they’re not so great for six-pack abs.

Drink more water:

Cleanses your body and can make your body feel full.

Setting up an ab workout routine:

Once you’ve completed the first step of lowering the amount of calories you consume, you need to begin working out. As mentioned above, diet without exercise can and will lead to weight loss – but it will only go so far. You must implement exercise into your daily life to see long-term, permanent results with weight loss. Your ab workout routine should include:

·     Weight training that focuses on all of your muscle groups, not just abs. Do this 2 or 3 days a week, in days that are not back to back. You must give your muscles time to rest.

·     Perform 30 to 45 minutes of cardio 3-5 days a week. You can substitute regular cardio with any intense recreational activity, like football, soccer, or basketball.

·     Stretch before and after your workouts for flexibility and relaxation. Also, warm up before each workout that you do (simple stretching and exercises). Remember to do cool-downs, which means gradually decreasing in your intensity until you stop.

Are ab exercises still necessary?

Reading this, you’ve discovered that ab exercises aren’t going to be a dominant factor in reducing the amount of fat around your body. Should you still do them? The answer is both yes, as well as no. You do want to work your abs (as well as your entire body), but not necessarily with the usual crunches and sit-ups that you might be doing now.

To have a maximum impact on your abs, switch it up and get more creative. Invest in an exercise ball, use a hoola hoop, or go salsa dancing. Move around your mid-section a lot more and you’ll not only have fun, but get tighter and better looking abs.

Choosing The Right Diet!

While the new flashy sports car that everyone is driving can be appealing to you, it may not be right for you depending on your situation. There could be the obvious obstacle that you must overcome to obtaining it, and that is its cost. Or, if you have a family of five, it’s simply not a reliable form of transportation. So why do some choose to follow “fad” diets, diets that everyone else follows?

Diets are a lifestyle choice, and as such, they should be very unique to your overall lifestyle and should not simply mimic what those around you are doing. The countless fad diets you hear being advertised on television are simply not for everybody.

To figure out the diet that is right for you, there are a few standard questions you can ask:

1. Does it match the style in which I eat?

While it may be healthy to eat several meals a day and the diet suggests this, but you know you can realistically only eat lunch and dinner – you won’t last long. Alternatively, if you travel a lot and have to eat out and can’t eat the diet’s recommended home cooked meals or spend a lot of time preparing your own dinner, you should avoid it.

2. Can truly I exercise this much?

Some diets mix in a lot of physical activity, while others keep it simple to aerobics. If you’re the kind of person who can’t stand exercise, or isn’t very active, following a diet that requires 5-6 visits a week to the gym won’t be something you can realistically follow.

3. Am I willing to deal with this forever?

When many people start a diet, they have a goal in mind to lose X amount of pounds. This is the incorrect mindset to have – a diet isn’t a temporary thing, it’s a lifestyle decision. So, if you think to yourself, “Well, I only have to deal with this for 6 months to lose 20 pounds” you’re wrong. As soon as you go off your diet, you will quickly regain those lost pounds.

To keep the weight off permanently, you need a weight loss plan that you can follow every single day for the rest of your life.

4. Are the foods practical?

There are multiple parts to this question. First, don’t pick a diet that excludes your favorite food groups or is simply not something you like, As said previously, a diet isn’t a temporary thing – you should be comfortable with following it for the rest of your life. Secondly, can you afford the food? While eating fresh fruits and vegetables all day can be rewarding to your health, fresh fruits tend to be much more expensive than other types of diet food.

5. How serious am I about this?

Do you go out to bars with your friends on weekends? Or do you want to have a little bit of birthday cake at your child’s birthday party? Diets only work because we can stick to them. The fact is, we don’t like to be chained down by them either and you need to consider that when choosing a diet. Some diets allow you some flexibility, while others make you eat nothing but cabbage soup for every meal.

Take your goals into consideration, your lifestyle, and your ability to follow a diet and you’ll be sure to select one that is right for you.