Odds are if you need belly fat loss you also need to lose weight other places as well.
To me, belly fat is the most embarrassing and unsightly fat you can have. What happens when you put your favorite jeans on? Your belly fat gets pushed up and spills over the top of the jeans. This is called muffin top. How cute, right? Wrong!

I hate it and belly fat loss is also the most difficult to achieve, second only to arm fat. You have to lose weight all over to lose weight in your belly and the best way to do that is to take in less calories than you burn in one day.

I want you to do something, not for me, but for yourself. Start this all off by taking a thirty minute walk everyday. If you cannot go for thirty minutes the first week then work up to it. Walking is the best thing you can do for yourself. Walking will improve lung and muscle function. Your heart will love you for it. Carry a water bottle to stay hydrated especially if it is warm outside. You can sweat out a considerable amount of water and nutrients in thirty minutes if you are not careful.

Losing weight takes commitment to yourself but staying motivated can be a challenge sometimes. If motivation to lose weight was easy to come by, no one would be overweight in our country. We would all be our ideal weights and pictures of fitness.

It’s up to you to figure out what things will help you get and stay motivated. Everyone knows the consequences associated with having too much body fat and living a sedentary lifestyle. It’s one of those things though that until it happens to you or someone you love, you just stay complacent and think that it will never happen.

Of course, it can and will if you don’t take control now. There are a few aspects to losing weight, such as eating better foods, less junk, and getting a lot of exercise. Believe it or not, for many people the motivation to lose weight will often start with finding a work out you can live with. That is why I suggest starting with walking for thirty minutes a day. It is easy to stick to. You can always incorporate more into a work out, but it pays to start simple.

Another great way to get and keep your motivation is to find a like minded friend to exercise with. It can be as simple as the two of you taking a class together, joining a gym, or just going for walks, having a buddy can make all the difference.

One thing you don’t want to do is put yourself under a lot of pressure by setting up an unrealistic time frame. Don’t wait until a few weeks before a wedding, or vacation. If you do, you’ll just be setting yourself up for failure. It will be virtually impossible for you to achieve your belly fat loss and once the event comes and goes you’ll probably be done working out. Instead just make a commitment to yourself to get healthy, that is the best motivation to lose weight.

Tags: Body Fat, Calories, Consequences, Eating Habits, Exercise, Fat Loss, Fitness, Heart, Jeans, Losing Weight, Motivation To Lose Weight, Muffin Top, Muscle Function, Nutrients, Odds, Sedentary Lifestyle, Water Bottle, Weights —

If you have ever struggled with losing weight, then you may have come to the conclusion that it is virtually impossible to do so. The reality is that it doesn’t have to be all that hard. On the other hand, if you think that taking off those extra pounds is a quick and easy process that doesn’t require any effort on your part, then you are going to be let down. If you’re sincere about weight loss and you’re ready to follow a sensible eating plan, get moving and changing your attitude, you will lose weight more quickly.

Sometimes it seems as though diet and weight loss plans are a regular part of our lives; coming and going more often than we would like to admit. These are often fad diets that we latch on to in the hopes of finally finding the one that “really works”. However, it’s not a good idea to start any diet before you fully understand. The good news is that there are diet programs that have stood the test of time, and have been proven to work. Another thing that you may want to consider is that weight loss is not a one-time physical act. Instead, it’s a lifestyle change that you incorporate into your life.

Let’s be clear, there are many reasons why people don’t stick to weight loss programs, but lack of motivation usually isn’t one of them. What’s needed are some basic ways of increasing the odds of success. Here are some things you can do to put the odds in your favor.

1. Maintain your focus – A lot has been said about willpower and its lack of effectiveness. The problem with willpower is that it sets up the wrong mindset. When you think about it, you only need willpower when you are feeling deprived. Once you start thinking about things you can’t have, or how hard it all is, you are setting yourself up for failure. You need something better, and that’s where focus comes in. It’s the opposite of willpower. Focus on why you want to lose weight, what your ultimate goal is, and how you will feel once you reach your target weight. When you’re focused, you are thinking about the positive aspects of your weight loss plan, and that’s a good thing.

2. Get moving – Some people like to call this exercise, but at the same time, that word has negative connotations for a lot of people. Regardless of what you call it, you need to get moving if you want to increase your chances of success. The key is to participate in activities that you enjoy. This could be going for a walk, bowling, dancing, gardening, or playing frisbee. Just remember that any extra activity equals extra calories burned.

3. Effort – Yes, weight loss takes effort. There is no way around it. Fortunately, the more effort you put in, the more weight you will lose.

Tags: Attitude, Calories, Conclusion, Diet Plans, Diet Programs, Eating Habits, Fad Diets, Failure, Healthy Diet, Lack Of Motivation, Lifestyle Change, Lose Weight, Losing Weight, Mindset, Odds, Physical Act, Target Weight, Test Of Time, Thinking About Things, Weight Loss Plans, Weight Loss Programs, Willpower —

In the nearly eternal quest to lose weight, people seem willing to do just about anything. It has been that way ever since people felt societal pressure to lose weight, and is sure to continue for many years to come. They will submit themselves to food they don’t like, brutal exercise regimens, and the downright bizarre. But there’s one thing very few of them do, and it can greatly increase their odds of permanent weight loss. What is it? Documenting their progress with before and after photos.

Huh? Does that sound like a dumb idea to you? Don’t laugh. It can have a major psychological impact; before, during and after your weight loss. It has the same effect as writing down your goals. Just by doing this step, you will increase your odds of success.

Look at it this way, you will be working hard, eating right and exercising to lose weight. Before and after weight loss photos won’t make the weight come off, but they are another tool in your arsenal in the battle of the bulge.

If you have children, then you’ve heard comments from relatives who haven’t seen them for a while. They say, “oh, they’ve gotten so tall”, or something similar. That’s one of the reasons for doing before and after weight loss photos, it’s not always easy to see your own weight coming off because you see yourself every day. But when you can look back at the visual evidence, it’s a game changer. It’s motivational.

Here’s the best way to do it to maximize your results. Take a photo every so many days, but with no more than a week between. Try for the same pose, in the same clothes, in the same location in your house. This next part will be harder at first. Expose as much of your body as decency allows. If you’re a female a sports bra and shorts; if you’re a male then just a pair of shorts. You want to see the bigger picture (pardon the pun). And don’t forget to do one picture for each a front and side view.

Refer to the photos later to see how far you have come. Put them up in the trouble spots around your home. For example, on the door of your refrigerator to keep you from binging, or on your weight bench to encourage to do a few reps.

It’s up to you whether or not you will share them with anybody else. But there’s a good chance that your desire to share will increase with the number of pounds you lose. So, be sure to eat right, get moving and get healthy. And while your at it, go ahead and keep a visual record of your progress, you’ll be glad you did.

Tags: Arsenal, Battle Of The Bulge, Decency, Dumb Idea, Eating Habits, Eternal Quest, Exercise Regimens, Exercising To Lose Weight, food;, Huh, Laugh, Look At It This Way, Losing Weight, Odds, Pose, Psychological Impact, Pun, Relatives, Societal Pressure, Sports Bra, Trou, Visual Evidence, Weight Loss —

You know, it may not be fair that society and advertises perpetuate an unreasonable ideal for what people should look like. Nobody’s perfect. On the other hand, there is also a point when it’s a good idea to lose weight. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy, or to look your best. Losing weight isn’t always easy, but what follows will make it much, much easier. Nothing complicated, just stuff that actually works.

Building muscle burns calories even when you’re at rest. Wait! While that may be true, the calorie-burning effect of extra muscle tends to be exaggerated. The one thing that is not in dispute is that muscle does burn more calories, pound for pound, than fat does. The only question is how much, but in the battle of the bulging waistline we’ll use every trick in the book.

Write a plan to lose weight. Even if you’re writing down somebody else’s plan. The sheer act of writing it down increases the odds of your success. What foods will you be adding or reducing? What new habits will you encourage? What about exercise? There are no right or wrong answers, you know yourself better than anybody, so only you can make the best plan for you. The more specific your plan, the better.

Be ready for the inevitable roadblocks and setbacks. Yeah, I’m human, too. There will be times when you veer from your plan. It may be a moment of weakness, or it could be due to an unforeseen circumstance. The trick is to not let it get to you. All too often we make one slip and use that as an excuse for letting our plan slide for the day. Don’t let that happen. Forgive and forget and get back to your plan.

Make the better choice. This ranks right up there as an easy way to lose weight. For example, let’s say you are buying a bag of potato chips (yes, you can eat chips), compare it to another bag and see which has the fewest calories. Or, even better, compare the chips to another snack food, or something from the produce department. You always have a choice. How much weight loss you experience will correspond directly to how good your exercise and food choices are.

Perhaps you noticed that we actually said you can eat potato chips earlier. Yes! Chips. It’s silly to think you will really be able to swear off the foods you truly love for the rest of your life (barring serious health reasons for doing so). So, instead of fighting it, you’re going to control it. How? By eating smaller portions of the foods that do the most damage to your waistline.

None of the things we just covered are complicated. Start incorporating them into your daily routine now. The best part is that you can keep eating all of the foods you love if you’re willing to build a little extra muscle, have a plan, be prepared, make better choices and keep portions in check.

Tags: Building Muscle, Burns, Calories, Easy Way To Lose Weight, Easy Weight Loss, Eating Habits, Excuse, Exercise, food choices;, Losing Weight, Moment Of Weakness, Muscle Burns Calories, Odds, Potato Chips, Produce Department, Roadblocks, Setbacks, Sheer Act, Snack Food, Unforeseen Circumstance, Waistline —