Believe it or not belly fat is actually quite dangerous, but very
few people know this. I recently read an article written by Dr Gabriel
Mirkin M.D. A Harvard graduated doctor who has over 40 years of
experience and specializes in sports medicine and allergy and
immunology. He said that excess belly fat causes your cells to become
resistant to insulin which increases the risk of diabetes, high blood
pressure, strokes and even heart attacks. Dr Mirkin is supported by a
study that concluded that the single most important factor in the
measure of insulin resistance is fat stored around the belly.
Reading Dr Mirkin's article really opened my eyes about belly fat. One more reason to strive really hard to get rid of that ugly unwanted tire around the waist, and achieve a nice flat slender stomach and keep it that way. Now that you understand that belly fat is more than just a bulge around your tummy, I hope you will work even harder to reduce belly fat. But don't worry, I can help you achieve overall weight loss including your belly, so listen carefully because this is important.
I need to stress to you one thing: There is no quick and fast method to lose the belly fat that you have built up all these years. It is a very gradual process that requires lifestyle changes and above all the persistence and motivation to keep it that way.
Unfortunately belly fat is very hard to lose and is usually one of the last places where your fat leaves your body - because of this it is usually called stubborn fat.
Stubborn it is but there are ways to get rid of the belly fat - but you will have to work really hard to get rid of it. You must set realistic goals and give yourself time. Don't expect the belly fat to go in a week or two. Realistically look towards a 2 month to 6 month goal of belly fat loss. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you won't see and feel results before then, because that's not true, I remember when I first started doing lots of sit ups and working on the abs machine at the gym, within 2 weeks I was absolutely sure that my belly fat was reduced and my belly was flatter than before and it was undoubtedly firmer. So start straight away and I'm sure you'll start to see results in no time. When I say 2 to 6 months, I mean to achieve a perfectly flat belly that you would expect to see in magazines. To achieve that will take a while as you can appreciate.
Look at your diet Your diet is one of the biggest factors in storing belly fat. Are you consuming too much carbohydrates or fat? Consuming too much of these will hinder your goal of losing belly fat. Take some time out today to write down on paper exactly what you have eaten over the past few days, when you ate it and start to look and what you could have avoided, reduced or what you could have replaced it with.
Trust me, you will be surprised when you do this, most people realize that they just don't need to eat half the stuff they do, and that they are eating not out of necessity, but boredom and routine. Don't overlook this task, think of it as your task of the day, remember a little every day amounts to a lot over time, trust me this will help you long term to get rid of the stubborn belly fat and help your overall weight loss. Look into your diet and try to reduce the amount of fat and carbohydrate high food such as bread, pasta and white rice. If you like to use oils and spreads opt for a lower fat option - this way you can kill two birds with one stone and still have your favorite spread but putting less fat into your body.
Eat more protein Protein will help your body build more muscle and the actual digestion of protein burns more calories than the digestion of carbohydrates or fat so eating protein is doubly beneficial.
Pump up the cardio You must incorporate cardio training into your exercise regime. However exercising hours on end will not help shift the stubborn belly fat. What you need to focus on is doing intense exercise for short periods of time, say 5 minutes intensive running followed by a slower more relaxed cardio session.
Start the intense training on a level you can easily handle If you can only handle 2 minutes then do 2 minutes but slowly build up on it. The reason for this is by doing intense exercise you release the fatty acids from your belly which will be burnt off more easily during the relaxed sessions of cardio.
Bring on the weights If you are not lifting weights then you're really missing out. Weight training can really boost your fat loss and really help remove your belly fat. By doing more weight training you will build more muscle which will help burn more calories because muscle burn more calories than fat. Weight training is actually a great metabolism booster as well and helps burn calories hours after the session has ended. think of weight training as an investment, you train once to reap the benefits of it for many days after unlike cardio where you do one workout and you burn calories but you don't continue to burn calories for as long after the workout as you do with weight training.
Try to add weight sessions to your workout every other day. When doing workouts try to do around 8-10 reps, with weights as heavy as you can handle. This is a great metabolism booster and will help boost your metabolism for hours after the workout and therefore burn more calories and help you reduce belly fat.
If you're thinking that weight training can actually make you look bulky then how wrong can you be. Most likely after weight training for a while you will notice your body shape improving and in actual fact you could look even slimmer. To bulk up like Arnold Schwarzenegger you would really need to change your diet and lifestyle dramatically to achieve what he did. I have some friends that are body builders and to see how disciplined they are with their training workouts and entire lifestyle not to mention the masses and I really do mean masses of food they need to eat to increase and maintain their large muscles is absolutely mind blowing. So trust me when I say that you don't need to worry about bulking up too much when you add an extra few kg's to your weight training workout. It will help a lot, so don't hold back, just go for it.
These are just a few of the methods you can use to help you lose the belly fat. Remember losing the belly fat takes time. Set yourself longer term goals and be persistent. Don't give up if you don't see results immediately, take your time and slowly but surely the belly fat will be a thing of your past.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sam_Das
Reading Dr Mirkin's article really opened my eyes about belly fat. One more reason to strive really hard to get rid of that ugly unwanted tire around the waist, and achieve a nice flat slender stomach and keep it that way. Now that you understand that belly fat is more than just a bulge around your tummy, I hope you will work even harder to reduce belly fat. But don't worry, I can help you achieve overall weight loss including your belly, so listen carefully because this is important.
I need to stress to you one thing: There is no quick and fast method to lose the belly fat that you have built up all these years. It is a very gradual process that requires lifestyle changes and above all the persistence and motivation to keep it that way.
Unfortunately belly fat is very hard to lose and is usually one of the last places where your fat leaves your body - because of this it is usually called stubborn fat.
Stubborn it is but there are ways to get rid of the belly fat - but you will have to work really hard to get rid of it. You must set realistic goals and give yourself time. Don't expect the belly fat to go in a week or two. Realistically look towards a 2 month to 6 month goal of belly fat loss. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you won't see and feel results before then, because that's not true, I remember when I first started doing lots of sit ups and working on the abs machine at the gym, within 2 weeks I was absolutely sure that my belly fat was reduced and my belly was flatter than before and it was undoubtedly firmer. So start straight away and I'm sure you'll start to see results in no time. When I say 2 to 6 months, I mean to achieve a perfectly flat belly that you would expect to see in magazines. To achieve that will take a while as you can appreciate.
Look at your diet Your diet is one of the biggest factors in storing belly fat. Are you consuming too much carbohydrates or fat? Consuming too much of these will hinder your goal of losing belly fat. Take some time out today to write down on paper exactly what you have eaten over the past few days, when you ate it and start to look and what you could have avoided, reduced or what you could have replaced it with.
Trust me, you will be surprised when you do this, most people realize that they just don't need to eat half the stuff they do, and that they are eating not out of necessity, but boredom and routine. Don't overlook this task, think of it as your task of the day, remember a little every day amounts to a lot over time, trust me this will help you long term to get rid of the stubborn belly fat and help your overall weight loss. Look into your diet and try to reduce the amount of fat and carbohydrate high food such as bread, pasta and white rice. If you like to use oils and spreads opt for a lower fat option - this way you can kill two birds with one stone and still have your favorite spread but putting less fat into your body.
Eat more protein Protein will help your body build more muscle and the actual digestion of protein burns more calories than the digestion of carbohydrates or fat so eating protein is doubly beneficial.
Pump up the cardio You must incorporate cardio training into your exercise regime. However exercising hours on end will not help shift the stubborn belly fat. What you need to focus on is doing intense exercise for short periods of time, say 5 minutes intensive running followed by a slower more relaxed cardio session.
Start the intense training on a level you can easily handle If you can only handle 2 minutes then do 2 minutes but slowly build up on it. The reason for this is by doing intense exercise you release the fatty acids from your belly which will be burnt off more easily during the relaxed sessions of cardio.
Bring on the weights If you are not lifting weights then you're really missing out. Weight training can really boost your fat loss and really help remove your belly fat. By doing more weight training you will build more muscle which will help burn more calories because muscle burn more calories than fat. Weight training is actually a great metabolism booster as well and helps burn calories hours after the session has ended. think of weight training as an investment, you train once to reap the benefits of it for many days after unlike cardio where you do one workout and you burn calories but you don't continue to burn calories for as long after the workout as you do with weight training.
Try to add weight sessions to your workout every other day. When doing workouts try to do around 8-10 reps, with weights as heavy as you can handle. This is a great metabolism booster and will help boost your metabolism for hours after the workout and therefore burn more calories and help you reduce belly fat.
If you're thinking that weight training can actually make you look bulky then how wrong can you be. Most likely after weight training for a while you will notice your body shape improving and in actual fact you could look even slimmer. To bulk up like Arnold Schwarzenegger you would really need to change your diet and lifestyle dramatically to achieve what he did. I have some friends that are body builders and to see how disciplined they are with their training workouts and entire lifestyle not to mention the masses and I really do mean masses of food they need to eat to increase and maintain their large muscles is absolutely mind blowing. So trust me when I say that you don't need to worry about bulking up too much when you add an extra few kg's to your weight training workout. It will help a lot, so don't hold back, just go for it.
These are just a few of the methods you can use to help you lose the belly fat. Remember losing the belly fat takes time. Set yourself longer term goals and be persistent. Don't give up if you don't see results immediately, take your time and slowly but surely the belly fat will be a thing of your past.