Getting rid of stomach fat or belly fat for that matter is one of the most sought after goals of health and fitness. In fact, some people enroll in a gym, purchase creams, pills, and other whatnots in order to get rid of the unattractive belly fat. However, like most goals, this is easier than done. Many fail miserably and resort back to their old lifestyle because they see no progress. Let me tackle first the pitfalls and then some tips to get you back on track in reducing that body fat. The Myths: 1) You can spot-reduce fat What do I mean here by spot-reducing fat? It's a way of saying, "alright I want to lose some fat around my arms so i'll do alot of bicep curls." WRONG. There is no scientific evidence that supports spot-reducing. In fact, the only way you can actually spot-reduce something is to get a liposuction. The body was designed to burn fat in its own way. For most Caucasians, fat burning is distributed in the body. Meaning, given a total amount of fat burned during the day. Some parts of it will have come from your face, your arms, your stomach, your legs, etc. Bottomline: If you're doing 1000s of crunches to get rid of your bellyfat, you are wasting your time 2) More reps, more abs This isn't true and this is actually related to Myth #1. To some extent, you can burn more calories by doing more reps. But calories burned by doing crunches is not statistically significant. Again, if you're doing 1000 a day, quit, you're just hurting yourself. Killer tips to get you going: 1) Do Cardio! There is no substitute for doing cardio! If you're looking to burn more fat. Do slow to moderate cardio at 30 minutes. Doing slow to moderate cardio will allow your body to conserve glycogen (an energy source found in muscle cells) and shift to another energy source, yes fat. But take note, this only happens during the cardio workout. Another form of cardio, which I will tackle in greater detail, will use more glycogen stores in muscle cells but will make your body burn fat throughout the day 2) Watch what you eat! Hey if you want to get those abs visible in no time, you should stop visiting your local fastfood chain!!! Maybe once in a month tops! Eat a lot of food that's rich in fiber -- vegetables, greens, salads, etc. These are fat burning foods. Why you ask? Vegetables, greens, salads, etc. are more difficult to digest so : 1) You feel satiated most of the time -- preventing you from overeating
2) It takes a lot more energy (calories) to digest...so you burn more calories 3) Drink water! Water is probably the most underrated drink ever. Don't forget to hydrate yourself properly. Almost all bodily processes involve water. If you lack water, you significantly hamper your ability to burn fat more effectively. That's all for now! Stay tuned for more of my fat burning tips! |
