Two Flat Stomach Secrets For Women

Two Flat Stomach Secrets For Women

By Holly Rigsby, CPT

Have you tried everything under the sun to get a flat stomach, only to come up disappointed? Have you fallen prey to all the gimmicks, fad diets and shameless infomercials promising you that elusive flat stomach that you desire?

Well fret no more, I'm going to let you in on the two ‘secrets' that will help you shed unwanted fat and reveal your toned, flat stomach once and for all.

The first secret for a flat stomach is eating supportively. While this doesn't seem like a secret at all, most women get this wrong in spite of their best – but misguided – efforts. Women have fallen prey to low-fat, low-carb, Hollywood, grapefruit, South Beach and every other over hyped diet that marketers can dream up, all in hopes of shedding those unwanted pounds. But eating supportively is isn't about dieting or deprivation; it's about moderation and balance. While cutting carbs or fats out of your nutrition plan might give you a temporary loss of a couple of pounds, it's typically followed by a drop in metabolism and a weight gain of more than you lost in the first place once you go back to your old eating habits.

So what is eating supportively? Eating supportively is having protein and carbohydrates at every meal. It's grazing on 4-6 meals or snack each day instead of missing meals and then gorging yourself. It's enjoying a healthy breakfast and not drinking your calories. But most of all, eating supportively is enjoying the foods you love in moderation instead of in excess.

If eating supportively is the first secret to a flat stomach, then what's the second? The second flat stomach secret is resistance training. Unfortunately, just as fad diets have stood in the path of women achieving the flat stomachs they so desired, so have the myths of spot reduction and cardio being the best method for fat loss. Late night infomercials have long promoted gadgets that promised to spot reduce those trouble spots that women struggle with and sucked us in with testimonials from fitness models that undoubtedly picked up a nifty paycheck for endorsing their wares. But spot reduction is a myth. Think about it – have you ever met someone with a flat stomach and fat arms? Didn't think so. If spot reduction was possible then undoubtedly one of these happy customers would have toned and tightened their stomach, yet kept their flabby arms.

The other myth that has led women astray is the belief that cardio is the best solution for fat loss. Treadmill manufacturers have sold the virtues of the ‘fat burning zone' and led us to believe that we could plod along on a treadmill watching Oprah and before long a flat stomach would be ours. These two myths have diverted us from the path of what really does work – resistance training. Resistance training is a flat stomach's best friend because not only does an effective resistance training session burn plenty of calories while you're doing it, but it keeps you're metabolism revved long after you're done. One recent study showed that you're metabolism would stay elevated for over 36 hours after a resistance training session.

Try to get that out of an aerobics class.

And there's another benefit of resistance training when it comes to getting a flat stomach. The lean muscle that you gain will raise you're resting metabolic rate and help you burn more fat all day long, each and every day.

There you have it, two ‘secrets' that are guaranteed to boost your metabolism and give you that flat stomach you've been longing for. So ditch the diet books and the aerobics classes and start eating supportively and resistance training. Before long that flat stomach will finally be yours.

About the Author

Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women’s fitness coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of the internationally popular e-book – Fit Yummy Mummy - Burn Your Baby Fat & Get Your Body Back. Go to FitMummy to get your FREE copy of her special report: "The Five Ways To Boost Your Metabolism."

Know More About What You Eat

Know More About What You Eat



How much do you know about food? Lose weight by increasing your knowledge about what to eat. Only by educating yourself about the true nature of food will you be able to shed pounds. This article is going to talk about what you need to know about food to lose weight.

First of all, you need to know about calories. Calories are the fundamental item in any weight loss program. The basic rule is that to lose a pound, you need to burn 3500 calories than you eat. If you want to lose a pound a week, you need to burn 500 calories a day more than you take in.

Not all foods are created equal. Some diets treat food lose weight differently. For instance, Atkins and the South Beach diets encourage you to restrict your carbohydrate intake while allowing you to eat as much protein and fat as you want. The Mediterranean diet, on the other hand, encourages you to eat complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while limiting red meat and most kinds of fats. Both schools have their food lose weight fans.

The next thing you need to know about is that the time of day that you eat is important. The old saying “eat like a King at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner” is very true for people thinking about food to lose weight.

A big breakfast is a good way to start the day because it will keep you full through lunch. Having a moderate sized lunch and a light mid afternoon snack will keep you going through the afternoon. But how much energy do you really need in the evening? Most people watch television, read, or surf the internet after dinner. That’s why a light dinner is all you need. Also, close the kitchen after dinner and don’t eat for the four hours preceding bedtime.

The kinds of foods you have can also be a factor in food weight loss. Scrambled egg whites are a great breakfast base. For lunch, you can even eat out if you know what to choose. Any of the foods on the Subway “under 6” menu are perfect. For dinner, try a broth based soup to start followed by a salad with low fat dressing. Have a small serving of meat with a larger serving of vegetables.

Of course, you are going to want snacks, and that’s okay provided that you know what is good to eat. Hagan Dazs can even be on your diet, provided that it is their yummy sorbet. Chocolate Dream cookies can substitute for your favorite chocolate chip type. But otherwise, stick to fruit, pretzels, and vegetables.

Another issue to consider is how much sodium you have in your diet. Your body only needs about 500 grams of sodium, but most Americans have between 3000 to 6000 grams a day. All that extra salt leads to bloating and weight gain. Drinking 8 or more glasses of water a day can help to mitigate this problem by flushing some of the sodium out of your system.

The food lose weight connection is real. I encourage you to try to learn as much as possible about what foods really have in them including their calorie, carbohydrate, fat, protein, and sodium contents.

Getting The Abs You've Always Wanted

Getting The Abs You've Always Wanted

Do you want to know the principles of a diet for abs? Are you looking to develop a six pack? Did you know that by changing your eating habits is as important as exercise? This article will look at six ways you can diet for abs.

Any diet for abs will begin with eating more fiber. You need to eat at least 25 grams of fiber a day to ditch the belly fat. Some researchers have even said that 35 grams is optimal. Fiber is the indigestible parts of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

The bulk factor of fiber is like a sponge – when it combines with the water in your digestive track, it soaks up everything. High fiber foods also fill you up, so you are unlikely to overeat. Finally, there is the “chew” factor. High fiber foods just take longer to eat. This allows your stomach to signal your brain that you are full before you stuff yourself.

The next strategy is to choose a sensible amount of quality carbs. The best diet for abs will have 45 to 65 percent of the calories from carbs. But this does not mean a lot of Twinkies. Fruits and vegetables have carbs in them, but they are the high quality ones.

Carbohydrates break down into glucose. This is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. When glycogen is stored, it carries with it three times its own weight as water. Fat and protein carry no weight. This is why people who go on no carb diets like Adkins can initially lose weight so quickly. They are really just losing water. That is why you don’t want to go above 65% carbs in your diet.

Still, you want to have at least 45 percent carbs on your diet for abs. You should focus on balanced eating. For best results, eat at least three to five servings of veggies (15-25 grams of carbs); two to four servings of fruit (30-60 grams of carbs) and about 1 cup (8 ounces cooked or 2 ounces dry, or 2 slices of bread) of whole grains per day.

Next, you should drink your water. Many people mistakenly believe that drinking a lot of water will cause them to bloat. In fact, the opposite is true. Drinking water will flush your body of sodium. The water will be eliminated naturally. But when it takes the salt in your system with it, it will actually reduce bloating.

But, don’t drink fizzy drinks such as soda. That’s because pop and spritzers increase bloating. The carbon dioxide trapped in the bubbles creates gas, which slows down stomach emptying. Also, limit your consumption of alcohol and caffeine. Both are natural diuretics, which increase fluid loss and don't replace your body fluids as effectively as water or juice.

The next tip on our diet for abs is to watch the sodium. You only need about 500 grams of sodium a day, but most people get between 3000 and 6000 grams in the modern diet. This is just too much. Processed food and restaurant meals are the main culprets. Try to eat at home by preparing your own foods more.

Try to eat light at night. Your biggest meal should be breakfast. A moderate lunch should follow at noon. Your evening meal should be the smallest of the day. And, after dinner, get out of the kitchen.

Finally, try to reduce your stress if you are on a diet for abs. Stress triggers cortisol which is a hormone that causes you to deposit fat around the organs in your abdomen. Exercising and deep breathing relaxation techniques can help you to chill out.

If you are trying to loose the tummy, try this diet for abs.