Fabulous Abdominal Steps - Two & Three

Step Two is DIET. Yeah I said it - diet!  The truth is you can do more crunches than Arnold Schwarzenegger has done in his lifetime, you can have abdominal fitness routines that would make him blush and still never get defined abdominal. Fabulous abs have more to do with the body fat that covers your abs than the abdominal exercises you do. This is why so many people's abdominal fitness routines fail. Let's face it, taking the latest greatest belly busting, fat burning supplement, and buying the newest abdominal working exercise machine/gadget is easier than dieting. Though most people do all of the above, the elimination of body fat is the only way you are ever going to see your abdominal muscles.

The Fat of the situation

Let’s talk Fat, or rather subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is the fat that lies just beneath your skin. It’s the fat that keeps those of you who do a lot of abdominal exercises from seeing your beautifully toned muscles. Furthermore deposits of subcutaneous fat together with fibrous tissue cause the dimpling effect commonly referred to as cellulite.  Body fat is a consequence of stored energy — calories. Therefore step two is calorie control — diet.

1 - 4 Pounds!

The first thing you need to know about diets is that they all one way or another cut calories. The second thing you need to know is 85% to 90% of people who, if they do lose weight on a diet gain it back. There are a host of complicated reasons why this occurs; for our purposes I’ll be brief. Diets don’t work because they deprive you physically, mentally, and emotionally. They restrict you from eating foods you like, and have you eating foods you don’t like, causing you to crave everything in sight. Furthermore, most diet programs are short-term plans; they don’t help you form the long-term habits that result in long term weight loss. Consequently not only do you gain back the weight you lost with each diet; you often gain 1- 4 pounds more. Over the years this adds up until one day your thirty-something, forty-something years old etc., and 10 - 50 pounds heavier then when you were in college.

Step Two

Step One is abdominal exercise. Step Two is to count calories. Ugh! Counting calories is tedious, and time consuming, and I bet you just plain old don’t want to do it, but I’ll tell you something . . . If you’re too lazy to count calories, or to busy to make the time for yourself, you’ll never have the body you want, period! And I’ll tell you something else, if you think the women on the covers of your fitness magazines get those abs just by doing crunches or taking some fat burning supplement there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you!

Eat What You Want, Burn Fat!

Calorie counting is an easy, effective, long term way to diet because you can eat the foods you like, and it helps form good eating habits. No cottage cheese, no tofu, rice-cakes, or expensive prepackaged diet foods. When you count the number of calories in a serving you’ll eat less, consume fewer calories, store fewer calories, which will allow your body to burn the fat you already have covering your abdominal muscles.

The Sense of It All

Not knowing how many calories are in the foods you eat, especially when you’re trying to change the look of your body is like not knowing how much money is in your bank account when you are paying your bills; neither make any sense. Calories counting keeps you engaged in YOU. We live in a culture where it’s easy to overspend and overeat. We all have busy lives, most of us don’t think about what’s in the food we eat, and we darn sure don’t think about how many calories we are about to consume, consequentially we over eat.

600 - 800 Calories a Morning - Oh My!

When you start counting calories you’ll discover the muffin you have in the morning is 400 calories, and your Starbucks coffee drink is between 100- 400 calories, together this equals 600 - 800 calories. That’s approximately half of the calories a woman who exercise 2-3 times a week and wants fab abs should consume in one day! Knowing this helps you make smarter choices; for instance instead of eating the whole muffin, eat half the muffin, and buy a smaller coffee with fewer calories. Incidentally you will consume less saturated fat, artificial flavors, colors, sugar, sodium, animal hormones and preservatives, all of which wreak havoc on a women’s body. See my article on see Women’s Health Supplements Part 1

Function Efficiently

Why not cut Carbs, or fat, or go on the cookie diet? As stated earlier all diets do the same thing; they cut calories! The real problem with these types of diets is that they ask you to cut out whole food groups, therefore cut vital nutrients that your body needs to function efficiently. They also deprive you of the foods you like increasing the likelihood of cheating.

The Best Way to Count Calories

•Determine how many calories you should consume a day
•Calorie intake calculation is based on your height, weight, and activity level
•Buy a good calorie count book, smart phone application (app), or use a web site.
•Plan meals, snack, and drinks with the calorie count book
•Keep track of the number of calories you consume (diet minder)

Step Three Burn Calories

Burn the calories stored as fat on your body, by way of exercise. That means cardio ladies! And some light weight training of course. Weight training increases your metabolism, which makes your body a better fat/calorie burner. Your abs are like any other muscle in your body. No matter how hard you workout, if you don't burn the fat covering your muscles you’ll never get the toned body you want.

Fab Abs In 30 Days . . . Really?

In part one of Fabulous Abdominals in 30 Days I talked about how the fitness industry has a habit of not giving you all the information you need to get Fab Abs. This is especially true when your told you can achieve this goal in lets say . . . 30 days. This is not a fabrication nor is it an exaggeration, but it’s not exactly true either. If you are ten pounds or less overweight, if you diet, weight train and do cardio 5 days a week or more you can absolutely meet this goal. However if you are more than ten pounds overweight it may take three to six months to reach your goal. This by no means should discourage you.  In the process of working toward fabulous looking abs you can show off at the pool or beach, you’ll greatly improve your overall well being as well as establish healthy eating and exercising habits that will help you keep the weight off. It’s win win.