I know you have been told this a million times but if you want to lose belly fat you must lose weight all over. You cannot just spot reduce. There are quite a few core body exercises that you can do to tone and strengthen your abdominal muscles but you just can’t do one without losing weight all over. Losing weight is a package deal.

The bigger the package the longer your journey will take so the sooner you get started the better. Before you even start to worry about one specific area the best thing you can do is learn to strengthen your core.

Your core is just that, the middle of your body, abs, ribcage, and lower back. These muscles are what hold you upright and help keep you balanced. When they get weak, you will find you lose your balance more often than not and may even start falling because of it.

Weakened muscles in your core can lead to instability in your lower back and cause you to have pain, or worse yet, a herniated disc. If you have ever had a herniated disc you know that it is extremely painful. They take forever to heal and will flare up at any time. Usually when you least expect it.

When you belly fat lose you will decrease the pressure on your joints and back and decrease the level of pain you feel. In fact, if you were to lose just 10% of your total body fat you could increase your mobility and decrease your pain by about 30%. Every ten percent body fat lost takes approximately 100 pounds of pressure off your lower back and legs. Save those knees and that lower back. Lose the weight.

Do yourself a favor too, while losing the weight, find a good chiropractor. They can adjust your spine and make everything start flowing (your chi) better while you are in transition from being fat to becoming fit and thin.

If the chiropractor you find is also a slash physical therapist, you can even have them show you exercises to begin your work outs with and progress into more intense strengthening exercises.

Do you have kids? Can you get outside to play with them? If you can, then do. It will be good for them and good for you. If you play with your kids it will not seem like a work out but you will be surprised how children’s games can be an excellent source of exercise for all concerned.

Run, jump rope, play tag, hide and seek, any of those games we all used to play with our brothers and sisters and all the neighbor kids out in the front yard when we were young. Some friends of mine and I were just talking about those games we used to play and I had to do a search to relearn how to play Ghost in the Graveyard.

Who says you have to stop playing just because you get older? Find that inner child again and let them help you belly fat lose.

Tags: Abdominal Muscles, Body Fat, Chiropractor, Core Body, Fit, Flare, Herniated Disc, Joints, Journey, Knees, Legs, Lose Weight, Losing Weight, Million Times, Physical Therapist, Ribcage, Spine, Strengthening Exercises, Transition, Work Outs —

Obesity is on the rise and the number of people with too much body fat is higher than ever. A human body consists of fat, water, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals. When the amount of fat is too high then you are at higher risk of serious medical problems like heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

When you have excess fat in your body it raises your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It can also raise your blood pressure and increase your risk of diabetes. The risk of heart disease is significantly higher when you are obese. In fact a person that is obese may have double the risk of having a major heart attack or a stroke.

When a person consumes more calories than they burn then those calories turn into stored fat. This causes a person to become overweight and may lead to obesity. When there is too many calories consumed that contain a lot of cholesterol and saturated fats the cholesterol levels in the blood increase. This increase of cholesterol will increase the risk of heart disease.

How do you know if you are obese?

Body fat is measure by both body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. If your waistline is more than 35 inches for women and more than 40 inches for men then you are at a high risk of becoming obese.

The BMI is the body weight in comparison to the persons height. This is calculated by taking the body weight (in pounds) and dividing it by the height (in inches) squared then multiply this by 703.

Here are the levels of body mass index calculations:

18.5 or less is considered as being underweight

18.5 to 24.9 is considered a healthy weight range

25.0 to 29.9 is considered as being overweight

30.0 or higher is considered as being obese

40.0 or higher is considered as extreme obesity.

How to reduce or prevent obesity:

1. Add some exercise into your daily routine, even if you start out with something simple such as walking for 30 minutes a day. If you can’t exercise every day then try to exercise at least three to four times a week.

2. Reduce the amount of time you spend doing activities sitting down, such as watching TV or time on the computer.

3. Make fitter choices, such as taking the stairs instead of the lift.

4. Eat a healthy, nutritious diet that is low in fat. Include lots of fruit and vegetables in your diet.

5. Reduce the amount of food consumed each day by making your proportions smaller.

It is easiest to prevent obesity but if you are already obese it isn’t too late to get back to a healthy weight range. To live longer and have a healthier and more active life, try the above tips to get yourself to a healthy weight and stay at a healthy weight. Having a healthy weight range is the best choice for avoiding those serious conditions, such as heart disease and stroke, which you are at higher risk at by being overweight.

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