The Atkins diet is not a new phenomenon. The diet first appeared in the late 1970s and has grown popularity in recent years in response to the low-fat diet craze. As dieters had trouble with low-fat plans, they searched for a new solution and Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution book found a new audience.

A lot of people have jumped on the Atkins bandwagon and there has been a lot of hype as a result. But what are the basic principles of the Atkins diet?

The Atkins diet is based on a theory of why we get fat. According to Dr. Atkins, the over-consumption of carbohydrates and simple sugars leads to weight gain. The way your body processes the carbohydrates you eat have more to do with your waistline than the amount of fat or calories that you consume. In his book, Atkins outlines a phenomenon called insulin resistance. He theorizes that many overweight people have cells that do not work correctly.

When you eat excess carbohydrates and sugar, your body notices that sugar levels are elevated. Insulin is released from the pancreas in order to store sugar as glycogen in the liver and muscle cells for extra energy later on. However, your body can only store so much glycogen at once. As soon as your body reaches its limit for glycogen storage, the excess carbohydrates are stored as fat. This happens to everyone who eats too many carbohydrates.

However, insulin resistant individuals have an even harder time of using and storing excess carbohydrates. The more insulin that your body is exposed to, the more resistant it becomes. Overtime, the pancreas releases more insulin and cells become insulin resistant. The cells are trying to protect themselves from the toxic effects of high insulin. They create less glycogen and more fat.

As a result, insulin resistant individuals gain extra weight. The carbohydrates get converted into fat instead of energy. Other side effects include fatigue, brain fog (the inability to focus, poor memory, loss of creativity), low blood sugar (which can leads to hypoglycemia), intestinal bloating, sleepiness, depression and increased blood sugar. There is much more than weight at stake when you are insulin resistant.

The remedy for people who are insulin resistant is a diet restricted in carbohydrates. The crux of the Atkins diet is a limitation of carbohydrates in all of its forms. The foods restricted on the Atkins plan include simple sugars (like cookies, sodas and sweets) and complex carbohydrates (like bread, rice and grains). Even carbohydrates that are considered healthy, such as oatmeal, brown rice and whole wheat bread, are restricted on the program.

The diet has you restrict your carbohydrate intake to less than 40 grams a day. This will put your body in a state of ketosis. While in ketosis, your body will burn fat as fuel. According to Dr. Atkins research, the ketosis state will also affect insulin production and it will prevent more fat from being formed. Your body will begin using your stored fat as an efficient form of fuel, and youll lose weight.
Another benefit of the Atkins plan is that ketosis will end your cravings for carbohydrates. If youve been living on a carb-heavy diet, you may have found that you simply cannot get enough carbohydrates. With carbohydrate restriction and ketosis comes a reduction in carbohydrate cravings. People who have been on the Atkins diet for some time report that they do not crave carbohydrates as they once did.

Although the initial phases of the Atkins diet are rather strict, the program teaches you to restore balance to your diet in the long run. People who use the diet slowly reintroduce minimal amounts of carbohydrate into their eating until they find a comfortable balance between their health and carbohydrate use.

The basic principles of the Atkins diet have been adapted to many other low-carb diet plans. However, Atkins popularity still remains strong as one of the most effective low-carbohydrate solutions for those who are insulin resistant.

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What do you want to know about exercise lose belly fat? Regular exercise should consist of a combination of cardio and strength training. Be sure to talk to your doctor to find out if it is ok to begin an exercise routine, especially if you have an underlying medical condition such as heart disease or high blood pressure.

Daily exercise will eventually help to lower your blood pressure but initially may raise it to a level your doctor may not be comfortable with, so have that conversation and do what your doctor says is ok to do.

Cardio exercises consist of walking or running on a treadmill, using a stair stepper, elliptical machine or stationary bike and getting your heart rate up to a maximum level and sustaining that rate for 15 to 20 minutes. Cardio exercises will strengthen your heart and lungs and increase stamina.

The other type of exercise lose belly fat is strength training. Strength training consists of using exercise machines and free weights either at home or in a gym. The best way to tell if you are doing the exercises correctly is to have someone watch you while you do a set to make sure your form is correct. Incorrect form can cause injuries and nobody wants to be in pain.

when you know that your form is correct, choose a weight that is comfortable and do your sets slow and controlled. Never bounce or fling the weight up and down, slow and controlled is the way to go if you want maximum results.

Also there is a new theory that states if you work your muscles to fatigue with a heavier weight and do only one set you will get even faster results. Working your muscles to fatigue means you have used a weight heavy enough that you could not do one more rep no matter what.

I know you have probably tried every diet out there and keep getting frustrated. You lose a little here and there but it never stays off. Those diets are just not sustainable. You gain everything you lost back again and may even tack on a few more pounds to boot.

You need to stop jumping on every new fad diet that comes down the pike, they will never work. What does work, however is managing your diet, paying attention to what it is you are putting in your mouth and getting regular exercise. Make it a routine. Make an appointment with yourself everyday at the same time. Do not stand yourself up. Treat your workout appointment just like you would a doctor’s appointment. You wouldn’t miss that would you? No, you wouldn’t and you cannot afford to miss your workout either.

Your diet should be full of lean meats, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables. Reset your body by staying away from high carb foods like bread and potatoes for the first two weeks. Stop eating out and learn new healthy ways to cook. Learn how to read the labels of the foods you buy. Make sure that the fat percentage of the total calories is no more than 30%.

Combining diet and exercise lose belly fat is the way to lose the extra pounds forever.

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You may think that you know what the best workout to lose abdominal fat is but I would wager that what you are thinking is incorrect. If you are thinking that doing a thousand crunches everyday or running on a treadmill or other cardio exercises will get rid of your belly then you need to keep reading to change your thinking.

Cardio exercises and crunches really have little to no effect on losing your flabby belly. Not for nothing though, cardio exercises and crunches can be an effective part of an overall strength training program.

Lean muscle burns more calories and fat than all the cardio and crunches you can do. Building lean muscle, or strength training, is the best workout to lose abdominal fat, not to mention fat all over the rest of your body.

I am not saying that you can’t incorporate some cardio into your workout but you do not have to spend mind-numbing hours on end on the treadmill. Use the treadmill as your warm up and then when your muscles are warm concentrate on resistance training and really work your muscles.

Test yourself first and figure out how much weight you can safely lift without causing yourself injury. When you have the heaviest weight then do one slow set of about 10-12 reps. You should be barely able to even lift the last two reps. If this is not the case then you should increase the weight you use.

If you are able to work your muscles to fatigue in one set then your muscle is working at it’s peak. You can significantly reduce the amount of time you spend working out with this system. One set, at maximum weight, for all the major muscles of the body is the best way to build the lean muscle you need to burn the excess fat you have.

With toned, lean muscle you will be able to better burn fat and calories even when you are resting you will burn more than you did without the lean muscle. Your metabolism will be stoked all the time, especially if you are eating healthier, too. Decreasing your carbohydrate intake and increasing your protein intake will help lose the weight quickly.

Now, ladies, building lean muscle does not mean you have to bulk up. You will get toned and look better than you have in years. Lean muscle just keeps burning calories and fat. In fact you may be surprised at how easily it will seem that not only your belly fat disappears but that you slim down all over.

Do not try to spot lose, this is impossible. You either have to lose weight all over or not at all. You can do individual resistance exercises that target each muscle system at different times in your workout, this is different than spot reducing. You are still getting the best workout to lose abdominal fat, you just are also including the rest of your body, as well.

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You are tired of all the fad diets that do not work and the yo-yoing weight loss and weight gain. Lose some weight and gain it back, time and time again. You want to look and feel healthier so now you are seriously considering having abdominoplasty surgery to correct the problem.

First you have to ask yourself, did you really give weight loss the old college try? If you made the commitment to lose weight and change the way you think about and treat food then why did you not lose the weight and keep it off? Well, the best answer is that you did not make the commitment to lose the weight and change the way you think about and treat food.

I’m not saying you didn’t do some things right, but in the end, if the weight did not stay off then you mostly did the wrong things. I’m also not saying that abdominoplasty surgery is not the way to go here either. It may be the kick in the pants you need to keep yourself looking good after the surgery.

I think everybody wants to be thin and healthy. It is just that the way we eat these days is so wrong. Most of us don’t even know why. Think about the way things have changed over the years, though. When I was young, fast food was a rarity and we only ever had it as a treat once or twice a year. Maybe a little more often than that but not much.

Then, the world just seemed to get busier and people stopped cooking meals for their families because they did not have time. Women went back to work and “convenience foods” became the norm. Processed foods loaded with carbs and sodium make meals easier and also make our waistlines thicker.

Fatigue is rampant and so no one wants to get out there and even just go for a walk because they are too tired. So what happens when you do not burn off more calories than you take in? Weight gain. Then all of a sudden you are 50, 75, or even 100 pounds over weight and even though you want to lose it you just can’t seem to lose more than a few pounds at a time then it gets put right back on plus a few more. It is a cycle that only you can break and it takes dedication and self discipline.

You must make the change from processed food to fresh food. Some good advice for you to take to heart, when you shop, shop around the outer edges of the store. Everything on the shelves in the middle of the store is mostly canned and processed food. The outer edges has fresh vegetables even fresh breads from the bakery and even though some of the packaged meats are processed, like hot dogs, if you shop the outer edges of the store you generally get the healthier, fresh stuff.

Still, if you feel the need for abdominoplasty surgery to look and feel healthier and you can afford it, go for it.

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