Health and Fitness Tips

We all see the silly internet ads for “One Simple Rule To A Flat Stomach”. Here’s the real key to a flat stomach: Good diet and regular exercise, including a mix of cardio and core strength training.

Diet alone or exercise alone will not give you the sleek physique that you want. You have to do a combination of these things in order to lose the weight you want.

Healthy diets are balanced on their mixture of protein, carbohydrates and fats. Exercise helps your body burn calories, and to burn calories from fat before burning it from meals. It also tones up the muscles, which is what gives that sleek appearance.

If you diet only, you may lose some weight, but it will be slow and you have a better chance of stalling out on your weight loss efforts at a much faster rate. Also, you will not have the tightening and toning that exercise offers, so you will look flabbier. It is important to do a combination of these things to get the full effect.

The place to start when you want to lose weight is to get the mindset that you are not dieting, but creating a lifestyle for yourself. When you begin to eat healthy, do it as a complete change in your life, something that you will carry with you forever.

Start by changing what you drink. Water is healthier for you and better for you in every possible way – it cleanses your system, it hydrates you, it promotes health. It’s also zero calories without the glycemic yo-yo effect of diet sweeteners.

After changing your liquid intake to more water, focus on eating more fresh vegetables. If you crave sweets, have a piece of fruit. Try to eat something from every color of the rainbow to get a full range of phytochemicals and vitamins.

If you eat meat, make it lean. While it’s possible to build muscle as a vegetarian, it’s a lot easier if you eat meat. It delivers protein that’s readily rebuilt by your body to make muscle tissue.

Remember the food pyramid, and how it was built off of whole grains as its bottom layer? That’s important too. They give your body minerals and fiber. Make sure that it is whole grain – whole grain bread and whole brain pasta and brown rice.

Some dairy is also good for weight loss. Yogurt is very good for weight loss. Just make sure that the yogurt you get is low in sugar. Sugar can be a real enemy to your diet.

Sugar is the number one culprit for obesity and other metabolic issues in the United States. It’s in every commercial prepared food, and one of the reasons we suggest eating more raw vegetables is because it’s easier to track what sugar you’re eating. No more than 15 grams per day is the best advice.

Once you have your diet in check, it is time to get moving. Doing a combination of cardio, ab exercises and weight training will get your body whipped into shape.

Cardio work is aerobics, basically. Walking, running, biking – anything that gets your heartrate up and keeps it up is what you want. It’s good for burning calories.

Abdominal strength is core body strength. Although they’re boring, crunches are the key exercise here, though Pilates and yoga also stack up well. A little weight training is good for general muscle toning.

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