Sunday, February 21, 2016

How I Lost "THE" Pooch (Lower belly fat)

How I Lost "THE" Pooch (Lower belly fat)

The eating habits and exercise regimen can flatten your belly bulge.

If you're fed up with people asking you when the baby is due, maybe it's time to get rid of your lower-belly pooch. That excess fat at the bottom of your tummy doesn't benefit your health or your appearance. As a matter of fact the more the excess fat linger around, as you age it can become associated with heart disease. Excessive belly fat can also lead to lower back pain and poor posture. Flattening your belly will take more than just doing lower-abdominal exercises.  These exercises can strengthen your tummy muscles, but won't touch that flabby layer of fat covering them. To say goodbye to that tubby tummy, give your diet and exercise routine a makeover.

Diet Lifestyle - Consider changing your eating habits to avoid excess caloric intake. Replace those morning doughnuts, or fast food breakfast burger, afternoon treats, late-night munchies and calorie filled alcoholic beverages with healthy, low-calorie foods, such as fruits and vegetables, low-fat or non-fat dairy, whole grains and multi-grains. Reduce your portion size by at least 10 percent and consume monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados, and nuts; according to Dr. Oz, the professor of surgery at Columbia University, these foods combat belly fat. Avoid foods such as cookies, margarine, chips, popcorn, soda, cheese, pizza, cake and crackers because these contain trans fats, which, according to the American Council on  Exercise, trigger fat storage in your belly.

Monitor the amount of complex carbohydrates (cornbread, greens with fatty meats, red beans and rice, sauces, gravies, fatty dressings, sugary foods, sodas and high corn fructose. After 7:45pm my last protein drink of the day, I no longer snacked. Now I eat about 5 meals (instead of 6) and I don't eat a lot. I eat protein and a minimum amount of salad with my 2nd, 3rd and 4th meal. I've been doing this for 4 months now, however I noticed a difference I the first two days. As I was reducing my body fat, while adding muscle mass and losing small amounts of weight, I also began to reduce the amount of water I was drinking. From my gallon a day to now 6 months later to 84 ounces. I immediately began to see development of my core. I counted every 8 ounce of liquid to make sure I didn't exceed 84 ounces I a days time.

Exercise - Schedule at least 30-45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on five days of the week to burn calories. Work up a sweat, exercising at a pace that still allows you to have a conversation. Ride a bike, go jogging or use cardio machines in the gym. For optimal caloric burn, increase your workout duration to one hour. Do different things. Every now and thing choose three machine and do 20 minutes on each machine. Find different ways to challenge your body. If your jogging run for 3 minutes, walk 1 minute, then repeat. Stay there for about two weeks, especially if you've never ran before. After about 4-6 weeks, increase the run to 6 minutes and walk 2 minutes and repeat as you did before. Go outside for a long brisk walk. Then walk some run some, walk some, run some. Keep repeating this process. Find ways to challenge yourself. If possible cardio can be done daily, just to turn your metabolism into fat burning machine.

Strength Training - Lift weights at least three to four times per week, targeting your arms, shoulders, abdominals, legs, hips, chest and back. Strength training stimulates muscle tissue, which boosts your metabolism and burns more calories, that also lead to decreasing your body-fat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests using a resistance that's challenging enough so that after the last repetition of each set, you can't do another repetition.

Engaging Lower Body Exercises - Include static presses in your abdominal strengthening routine to target the lower part of your rectus abdominals. Lie face up on the floor, raise your feet to the ceiling and bend your knees 90 degrees. Place your palms on your thighs and suck your tummy in to eliminate the space between your lower back and the floor. Push your hands against your thighs for one second and resist the pressure with your thighs. Don't allow your hands to move your thighs. Complete x30 repetitions and three sets. There's also "old school" 6 inches, lying face up on the floor, hands by your side, while driving lower back into the floor, lift and hold feet 6 inches off the floor, counting 30 seconds each time, rest 5 seconds. Repeat x30.

Then there's the exercises lying face up on the floor, arms to the side, feet up in the air, then lift head and shoulders off the floor being hands up to reach as far toward your toes without being your toes past your waist. Repeat x30. Wall Sit. Sit in 60 seconds increments with a 5 second break repeat x10. Bridges with alternating leg extended in air, counting for 30 seconds each leg, repeat x10. Work your lower abdominals with reverse crunches. Lie on your back with your arms at your sides. Bend your knees and bring them directly over your hips. Curl your pelvis up toward your ribs so your tailbone lifts off the floor. Avoid swinging your legs and using momentum -- only use your lower abdominals with flexed feet to create the motion. Pause one second before lowering your tailbone to the floor. Complete three sets of x30 reverse crunches.

Stretching is just as important as the lower core exercises. Stretch your hip flexors. Sometimes, tight hip flexors can tilt your pelvis forward and increase the arch in your back, resulting in a belly pooch. Step forward with your right foot and lower down as if you're doing a lunge. Place your left knee on the floor and tighten your tush, pushing it slightly forward so you feel a stretch in your hips. Extend your left arm to the ceiling and lean to your right to emphasize the stretch in your hips.

Hold this position for 30 seconds and repeat it three times before switching legs. Repeat x10

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Motivation

THE AMAZING THING CAN HAPPEN WHEN YOU SHIFT YOUR PERSPECTIVE AND THE "GOAL" IS WHAT MOtIVATES YOU!!!

Ridding the Guilt to Make Gains Pt.1

Fear of falling on your fitness journey will only lead poor results. I want to share with you my thoughts on ways to rethink your motivation so you never want to skip a workout - but couldn't care less even if you do.

Has your workout routine become a chore that you need to check off your "to-do" list? Do your force yourself into the gym for fear of gaining weight or missing your daily chat with your walking  buddy as you leisurely walk on the treadmill....for an hour or it a consequence of punishment you choose because you dranked too much or ate the wrong food choices?

After reading the above statements, does any of it sounds familiar? Now may be a good time to rethink your relationship with fitness. Remember what you're doing is for yourself because exercise is one of the truest forms self-love. Taking care of yourself. Watching how you care for your self and what you're putting in your body will show up through aging process.

Negative pressure due to fear of failure will only motivate you temporarily and most like will cause you to rebel against your fitness goals. That's "fitness goal". Having a goal beyond just losing weight is always a great motivator for success. Example: to have better posture, stronger bones, great stamina and endurance or sculpt body. Your motivation is much more likely to last if it comes from a positive place.

In exercising we work to care of our bodies and our minds, to live long and healthy lives. Yes we want to all look physically great and looking great makes us feel great. (Though it should be the other way around.) when this becomes our sole focus of our fitness goals we tend to sabotage ourselves with negative thoughts, like we're not reaching our weight goals fast enough, my clothes still don't fit right or yeah I can skip exercising its not working anyways. We definitely don't want our thoughts to hinder us from why we originally started exercising. We must always remember it reward ourselves along way and never see bodies in a negative way.