Fitness Pro's 5 Tips For A Flatter Stomach!
Bikini season is here and your belly is still as flabby as it was when you vowed to get in shape... last January!
Sadly, you've lost your resolve and found a few more pounds along the way. Your body shape is much closer to Buddha-like than Baywatch babe. Maybe it was lack of motivation or a shortage of nutrition knowledge that led to your diet demise. Regardless of the cause, you’re well aware of the effect, as you hide your belly beneath a stretched-out pullover.
Now is the perfect time to get back on track. With the right eating and exercise regimen -- and 5 great tips from a fitness superstar -- you'll start seeing results well before back-to-school sales and falling leaves!
Shaping up is easier than you might think... especially when you have a renowned diet and fitness guru in your corner. Meet Bill Phillips, founder of the super-popular Body For Life program and the smash follow-up diet Eating For Life. Phillips is an icon for all those serious aboutdiet and fitness. These days he’s focusing more on the inside than the outside. According to Phillips, the goal of Eating For Life is to help you lose weight, feel great and not feel hungry. In his new book, Phillips provides guidelines on everything from managing your kitchen to streamlining your grocery shopping to feeding your family.
(Keep reading! We'll get to Phillips' easy-to-follow tips for a flatter stomach in just one minute.)
The Eating for Life plan isn’t about deprivation. Phillips describes his unique weight loss approach as "basic and balanced with no obscure foods." He said too many people these days are stuffing themselves with food, yet starving for nutrition. It’s only when the body receives the nutrients it craves that you’ll start to satisfy your appetite.
"Eating for life is very intuitive, "It works with your body, not against it. After a few weeks getting the hang of it, it really feels right. Common sense gives you an intuitive feeling that you’re on the right path.
"For long-term success this is very important because you have to feel right about what you’re doing. The science behind Eating for Life is also important because if you know from an analytical standpoint that you’re feeding yourself in a way that’s consistent with what scientific studies supported, you feel confident and this helps with long-term success."
In a match made in weight loss heaven, Phillips has teamed up with eDiets to offer an Eating for Life plan that's customized to YOUR tastes. Phillips knows that when it comes to preferences, one size does not fit all.
"As much as Eating for Life is basic and balanced nutrition that’s right for everyone, every individual has their own food preferences," Phillips notes. "Some like chicken Italian style. Others enjoy baked potatoes and more classic American food. By having Eating for Life online, people will be able to double their success with the program by customizing it to fit their particular tastes."
Through the eDiets-powered Eating for Life you'll receive menus, recipes and shopping lists for a full week. Having your meals laid out ahead of time arms you with healthy choices throughout the day. Phillips says too many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from -- and that can be one of the leading causes of diet derailment!
"When you’re planning, you’re being proactive, not reactive, and the downside of being reactive is that there are so many temptations, so many unhealthy things to eat in the current environment that you really have to put yourself in the position to do the right thing," he says. "When you’re reacting in the wrong situation, it’s hard to the right thing in the wrong situation. By planning you can create the right situation and set the table for your success."
With both the book and the online component, people struggling to lose weight can have the best of both worlds. While Eating for Life sets forth the guidelines and principles of the eating regimen, you have access to nutrition professionals and peer support to work in conjunction with the Phillips philosophy.
Although healthy eating is at the core of Phillip’s new program, regular exercise is just as important. Exercise doesn’t just help burn calories. It also redirects the body’s cravings.
"Exercise is scientifically proven to help people break the pattern of addictive cravings for unhealthy foods," Phillips says. "One of the reasons I so enthusiastically encourage exercise as a way of helping people change their eating habits is because it also soothes what the brain is craving. People who’ve struggled with making changes in their diet before know all too well that those cravings are coming from the mind. The body doesn’t crave anything. Working with the brain chemistry through exercise is an important part of success."
Phillips stresses that healthy eating and exercise pack an awesome one-two punch. You really can’t have one without the other -- especially if you’re working toward fab six-pack abs!
So, without further ado, belly up to your PC for Phillips' 5 super strategies for a flatter stomach.
1. One of the first things people need to realize about flattening their belly is that when you begin eating smaller, more balanced portions of food you simply make a significant change on how the belly looks. One of the reasons most people do 100 sit-ups and can’t get a flat belly is because their gut is too full. By eating smaller portions you’re moving toward a flatter belly.
2. Overall body fat contributes to how lean the belly is. You can’t lose body fat on the belly. The body’s fat compartment is one system. Doing leg exercises actually burns five times more body fat than doing sit-ups. Exercising the whole body is the way to burn fat off the belly. The notion that doing sit-ups burns fat off the belly is a myth.
3. You don’t have to do sit-ups every day. Exercising the ab muscles twice a week is plenty. For example, perform your ab exercises every Monday and Thursday. Muscles become stronger and more firm through the process of adaptation. We stress the muscle and then it recovers and comes back stronger and better. The muscles need time to recover.
4. Oftentimes people don’t realize that one of the reasons that they’re tummy isn’t tighter is because of their posture. Their shoulders are falling and their posture is beginning to lean forward. Practice healthy posture with your shoulders up and back straight while walking, sitting at your desk and exercising. Doing this while exercising helps flatten the belly.
5. Two highly recommended ab exercises are crunches and leg lifts on the stability ball. These exercises work the most muscle fibers and get the best results the fastest. The stability ball causes you to activate virtually every muscle in the upper and lowers abs. The whole midsection core has to work to pull of the crunches and leg lifts.
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