Jelly Belly Be Gone

Too often people work their abs every day without rest, hoping to burn the fat off with more exercise. But, your abdominal muscles are just like every other muscle in your body, so you should train them the same way you would train, say, your biceps or your chest. That means strength training 2-3 times a week, with rest in between and a variety of exercises to target different areas of the abs.

Try exercises that target your stabilizer muscles; the muscles you use all day long to hold your body in place. One of these is the plank: get into pushup position and hold it for as long as you can, keeping your belly tight and your body straight. Don’t hold your breath. For a more advanced version, try it with the stability ball.

The trick to your abs is to realize that strength training is important to keep your belly strong, but ab exercises aren’t magic. Incorporating ab exercises into a complete routine is the only way to the wonderful world of six-packs. And, even if you don’t make it there, don’t worry. Time is your friend.

It’s common to look in the mirror and not like what you see. This prompt many to make an instant decision to lose the unsightly bulge. This is great, since the appropriate action has been identified and is about to be executed.

However, to achieve this objective there must be a way of measuring your progress towards accomplishing it? Firstly, their needs to be a reachable and reasonable goal to strive for. Is it to lose a jelly-belly or several inches around the waste?

For those of us who have more than a few pounds to lose, we have to commit to a long term goal. We have to change habits in our lives, like eating, sleeping, activity, schedules, etc. Our commitment needs to contain levels of accomplishment rather than aim for the final target from the start. Make it totally unacceptable in your mind to be above the goal. Most of us are too comfortable at our heavier weight, but we cannot reach a goal unless we feel it is a meaningful goal.

In the weight loss process, you also need to keep the time frame reachable. It is reasonable to lose 5 to 10 pounds the first week since the initial weight loss will probably be excess water weight. After that, the safe weight loss rate is 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Follow through with the process and you will both look and feel great.

A recent study revealed that those who kept a journal of their weight loss journey, lost as much as twice the weight as those who did everything right except write it down.

It’s important to record what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat it. Rate your hunger at the time of your scheduled meal or snack, tell how you felt after eating, whether satisfied, still hungry, etc. Write down what exercise and activity you did - when, how long. Write down your emotions and any revelation you had during the day.

Having a Journal helps to keep your weight loss journey in the front of your consciousness. It is hard to keep up your eating plan if you do not remember you are on it. Secondly, it gives you an opportunity to listen to your body. By recording what you notice, you become more aware of trends. This way, you can find alternate ways to change habits and attitudes. Thirdly, you can look back and see how much you have progressed.The weight loss journey is one of changing habits in your physical activities/exercise, changing habits in your eating, and changing habits in your mental attitudes.

You can even take pictures of yourself as you reach goals – such as 20 pounds, 10% of your initial weight, or just every other month. For as long as possible, wear the same clothes when taking the picture and be in the same position in the same place. That will give you a true comparison.

Be diligent, you will be pleasantly surprised at the results.

It’s a known fact that when embarking on a weight loss journey, having others along for the ride help with motivation, but to get started each person has to decide for themselves to take that journey. The goal, whether it’s to lose belly fat or overall weight, is one you must set for yourself. You can have input from friends and family or a professional, but the ultimate choice of your goal is yours alone.

However, it can also be a shared journey since having someone to be accountable to has been proven to be very helpful. Having someone to listen to your struggles and victories and share in your joys and frustrations. These are benefits of a shared journey.

Having someone to remind you of your goals, your desires, and discuss your choices - whether the choice leads to your goal or drifts from the path - why you made the choice - if you made a choice away from your goal, why did you make that choice, what can you do next time. All these things are much easier with a partner or group than on your own.

Plan wisely your next move.

No one ever said that dieting to lose unwanted belly fat is an enjoyable process. So when we make the decision to embark on a weight loss program, nothing should be allowed to stand in our way if we truely want to have any success.

Beware of the ever present obstacles.

1. Time Constraints. There are so many things to do - school, work, church, family, friends, shopping, cleaning, errands, doctor appointments, travel, computer research, socializing and TV. We often find ourselves at the drive through grabbing a hamburger or chicken sandwich. JELLY-BELLY.

2. Lack of Activity. We sit at the computer, sit at the TV, sit at the ball game, sit at the movie, sit at the cafe, sit in the car driving, etc. And then we are too tired to get up and ‘exercise.’

3. Emotional eating. Many of us use food to comfort us or to distract us from unpleasant things.

4. Self-image. We constantly say unkind things to ourselves. This eats away at our self-image and to prove ourselves right, we binge?

5. Portions - We may eat the right foods, but eat too much. Most restaurants will serve about twice the amount of food that we actually need. Or if we cook, we pile what we like on the plate. We need portion control.

So, diets in and of themselves may work, but unless we change many facets in our lives, the weight maintenance will be harder than the weight loss. Mental attitude towards ourselves, activity level, type of food we eat, amount of food we eat, and calories we eat all have to be taken into consideration for our diet to be a success.

As we try to lose belly fat or weight in general, it is always beneficial to explore all areas of possible weight issues. In so doing it was discovered in a report provided by the National Sleep Foundation that 70% of Americans experience frequent sleep issues. This coincides with another report that two-thirds of American adults also fight weight issues. Coincidence?

In a vicious cycle, a lack of sleep can cause stress and fatigue, which can lead to overeating and weight gain. Excess weight has always been cited as a factor for poor sleep habits.

With this in mind, we must be mindful of the weight loss products we use. Most of these products contain ingredients that boost metabolism by stimulating our central nervous system. This is effective for weight loss, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of your sleep. A stimulated central nervous system causes many to experience jitters, nervousness, tossing and turning while trying to sleep. Be sure to get expert advice before choosing any products.

As we think of ways to get rid of stomach fat, we often overlook one of the simplest but very effective techniques.

Bouncing up and down on a rebounder (or mini-trampoline) is one of the best and most complete anaerobic exercises you can do. Since jumping strengthens muscles, tendons and ligaments - and demands great energy.

The acceleration, deceleration and gravity-pull positively stresses your bones, which results in higher bone density. Rebounding affects the efficiency of the lymphatic system, which helps to shuttle nutrients to the cells and remove waste from the body

It’s traditional for those who have concerns about their stomach to make losing belly fat their #1 resolution for any New Year. It’s also traditional for many to lose interest by the end of January. Mostly this is due to a lack of proper planning and executing the plan.

Firstly, it’s important to set a realistic goal. What exactly is to be achieved, broken down into days, weeks and months. Write this down and place it in a conspicuous spot. If necessary, show it to a friend or relative and ask that they hold you accountable.

Secondly, plan your schedule, again making it as realistic as possible. Bear in mind, your sleep pattern in going to be as important as your exercise routines.

Next, take a careful look at your eating habits; what you eat, how often and in what quantities.

Taking note of the weather conditions is essential. This way you know what attire to wear or how to prepare for proper hydration.

Details must even include a warm-up routine, which helps a great deal in avoiding injuries.

At first it might seem like a tedious task, but those who succeed are the ones who prepared a proper plan and stuck to it. Losing that unwanted belly fat should be motivation enough to see this through.

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO LOSE THE WEIGHT!