subject: Can Losing Abdominal Fat Be Quick And Easy? Here Are Some Tips And Tricks [print this page] Of all the areas that accumulate fat the abs and the love handles are the most common and most annoying. So can losing abdominal fat ever be easy? Let's look at some of the best ways on how to lose weight quickly and safely. You've tried fad diets, crunched until the cows come home but you still don't have the body you want or those six pack abs.
Tip 1. Avoid stress
That's because fat in the abdominal area works in a different manner to fat elsewhere in your body. Abdominal fat has a larger supply of blood and more receptors for cortisol, which is a stress hormone. In normal circumstances cortisol levels rise and fall throughout the day, but under constant stress, the amount of the hormone you produce remains elevated. With these high stress levels and the high cortisol levels, it's no surprise that more fat is deposited around your belly area since there are more cortisol receptors there.
So the first tip to getting rid of stubborn abdominal fat is to reduce your stress levels. You can do this through relaxation techniques or meditation. Beware of the comfort eating though. A cookie or 3 may temporarily reduce stress levels but that won't help lose your belly fat!
Tip 2. Exercise, or can it be avoided?
Next up is the dreaded e-word, exercise. To be honest doing a little exercise will not only help you reduce the size of your waist but help you remain healthy overall. And that will also help reduce stress too, it's a double whammy! So what are the best fat burning exercises for men and women?
Contrary to popular belief, the best way to burn that extra layer of flab from your midsection is not to do more crunches, but to do more cardiovascular exercise. Aerobic exercise is the best way to burn fat. Cycling, walking, elliptical exercises and jogging are all great fat burners because they burn calories. But the problem is time, most people give up too early in the fat burning workout. For the first 10 minutes of aerobic exercise, glycogen (stored carbohydrates in your muscles) is the primary source of fuel. So stopping after twenty minutes of exercise means you're getting half of your workout done! You'll get the cardiovascular health benefits, but there's not much in the way of fat loss.
The problem is that you don't burn significant amounts of fat until you run out of glycogen. The key to fat burning exercises for women and men is aerobic exercise for thirty to sixty minutes continuously. OMG!! Don't panic though. Every workout should be easy, we're not training for the marathon here (at least not yet) so strolling around the shopping mall for an hour or so can be beneficial, although it would be best if keep moving. Try window shopping first, going around the whole mall, then go back and buy that new dress, 4 sizes less than the last one you bought!
Tip 3. We are what we eat, or are we?
Oh dear now I have to say the d-word. Diet. Yes, unfortunately the food you eat has a direct effect on the amount of fat you carry. So you'll have to change your diet. Unless you reduce your calorie intake, you're not going to be losing abdominal fat. There are some tactics that might help do away with belly fat faster, but only when you're restricting your calorie intake. For example, eating an avocado after eating an entire packet of cookies isn't going to help you get rid of your fat. It'll probably make the problem worse!
Eating the right food is important. Switch out refined grains for whole grains. In scientific studies, people who ate all whole grains with a good balanced diet lost more belly fat than another group that ate the same diet, but with all refined grains. A diet rich in whole grains changes the glucose and insulin response in your body, which hastens the melting of fat, and visceral fat, that deep layer of fat, is easier for your body to burn than the subcutaneous fat under your skin, that nasty fat that you can see and grab! Water is really good too. Drink more water, at least eight glasses every day. This helps increase your metabolism and helps save you from dehydration.
Tip 4. Avoid late night snacking.
The final tip is to avoid eating late at night. Going to bead just after eating is not a good idea. When you sleep you slow down your metabolism so you're not burning the food you just ate. Guess where it goes! The minimum time between your last meal and bedtime should be three hours to give your body time to digest the food.
