Saturday, December 15, 2012

Lose Belly Fat Forever!



Losing belly fat naturally is something that everyone desires but just don’t know how to because of all the hype and influential infomercials that promise you instant results. Although stomach fat is the most difficult body fat to lose, it is not impossible to lose it permanently and get six pack abs. The great news is that you don’t have to starve yourself, take countless supplements, and undergo dangerous surgery or do millions of sit-ups. Here are some natural but surefire ways to lose that belly fat once and for all. 



Weight Training
Weight lifting will help boost fat loss, build muscle and prevent muscle loss. Performing resistance training exercises that focus on large muscle groups will burn the most calories. 

Eat More Calories
Not eating enough calories will slow down your body’s metabolism and you will retain more fat than if you were to eat the right amount of calories. Eating too few calories will also cause you to lose muscle, not fat, for energy, making you skinny and fat. Always remember that calories are energy and not eating enough will reduce your energy stores, which means having a hard time getting through the day or getting a good workout in. 

Do Cardio and Stop Doing Crunches
Performing 15 to 45 minutes of physical activity or intense cardio workouts three times a week will help you decrease overall body fat and burn more calories. Doing tons of crunches or other types of ab exercises will build abdominal muscles, but it won’t help burn belly fat. Sadly, you can’t reduce the amount of fat in one particular area of your body. You have to lose fat overall through you whole body to reduce your waistline through cardio. 

Eat Healthy
Working out hard will strengthen your abs, but if you don’t eat right, you will always have a layer of belly fat on top of those muscles. Eliminate processed foods from your diet plan and start eating whole foods such as protein, veggies, fruits, healthy fats and carbs. Make sure you eat breakfast each morning and eat small meals every three hours to keep your metabolism going. It’s helpful to eat carbs right after your workouts and drink two cups of water with every meal. 

Eat More Protein
Your body burns off more energy processing proteins than it does processing carbs or fat. If you wish to burn fat you must take in protein. You should always get your protein from a quality source such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cottage cheese and whey protein; not a burger from McDonalds or a sausage pizza from Pizza Hut. 



Self-Motivation
Developing a clear-cut plan and tracking your weight loss progress is about the best way to stay motivated. I understand it can be difficult when you don’t see drastic results right away but success doesn’t happen overnight. You must stay dedicated and work hard each day to achieve great results. You can start off by jogging or walking with a partner and making small changes to your diet. Make sure you track your body measurements and check the scales to see if your plan is effective. Since boxing is my favorite sport and provides me with a great workout I get the best of both worlds. Find a cardio activity you love to do and have fun while doing it to stay motivated. It may take some time to get the results you desire but the outcome will be permanent if you continue to work at it and stay committed. Start today on your belly fat loss efforts and gain the six pack abs you always dreamed of!

Source: http://blogs.phillymag.com/bewellphilly/2012/11/09/gimmicks-10-steps-losing-belly-fat-good/

Friday, November 9, 2012

Lose Belly Fat With Vaccines

Belly fat is the most difficult fat to get rid of and causes serious health issues but researchers discovered a new injection that may help humans reduce stomach fat. 

We are all aware that obesity is a growing issue in the United States and many individuals are searching endlessly for quick solutions to lose weight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that 42 percent of Americans will be obese by 2030. The bad part about this is that most people carry the fat in their abdomen area which studies have shown to be the most dangerous. Many Americans think they can do sit ups or crunches to lose stomach fat but you will only harden the muscles under the fat. You must do cardiovascular exercises such as running or jogging to lose weight all over then do ab workouts. 



Researchers at Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center are finding out that injecting a small capsule of heat generating cells in the bellies of mice helped them turn their white or bad fat, which stores fat in the body, into brown fat. Brown fat is good because it speeds up the metabolism, which led the mice to eventually lose about 20% of belly fat after 80 days of treatment. Ouliana Ziouzenkova with Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, says “We call it thermagenic fat”.
The mice did gain some weight back overtime but it wasn’t dramatic. Researchers also found that the vaccine caused a decrease in visceral fat, the fat around the organs, which was very important. 

If the injections are created for humans, it will not be used as a weight loss device just yet. Instead it will be used for individuals that are not capable of exercising, for instance, elderly people or individuals who are handicapped. However, for the ones who are not physically impaired, diet and exercise is the only way to lose weight and reduce belly fat successfully. You can’t just exercise one day then stop all of a sudden. You have to stayed dedicated and work at it until it becomes a routine. If it’s hard to stay motivated you can find a partner to work out with you and join you in your diet plans and workouts. You can start small by making small changes to you calorie intake and walking if you don't have much energy or time to join a gym. Start your healthy habits today and become a healthier person for the future.

Source: Today’s THV

Monday, September 3, 2012

Belly Fat, More Harmful Than Obesity


Belly Fat may be more dangerous than you can imagine, even if you are a person with normal weight. People who have a normal weight but have excess belly fat face a higher risk at dying from heart disease than people who are obese, a study from the Mayo Clinic reveals. 

The study analyzed that individuals who had a normal body-mass index but also had central obesity (a high waist-to-hip ratio) had the greatest cardiovascular death risk from all causes. Throughout all the years of research and studies I have encountered, I would have never thought that a person of normal weight with belly fat would be at a higher risk of death than an obese person. 

Lose Belly Fat


"We knew from previous research that central obesity is bad, but what is new in this research is that the distribution of the fat is very important even in people with a normal weight," says senior author Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, M.D., a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "This group has the highest death rate, even higher than those who are considered obese based on body mass index. From a public health perspective, this is a significant finding."

I always thought that the skinny or normal weight guys with the beer bellies were okay since they didn’t have fat all over but this current research has definitely changed my perspective. According to Lopez-Jimenez, central obesity increases insulin resistance and people tend to have less fat in areas where fat may be protective, such as the legs and hips. Individuals that have central obesity also tend to have much less muscle mass. 

Lopez noted that some of the risk is tempered or lessened by fat distribution for obese people. People who are obese usually have fat in those places where it may be protected, and they seem to have more muscle mass, he says. 

The study contained more than 12,000 people 18 and older from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is a representative sample of the U.S. population. The survey recorded body measurements such as height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference, as well as socioeconomic status, comorbidities, and physiological and laboratory measurements. Baseline data were matched to the National Death Index to assess deaths at follow-up.


People with cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were excluded by researchers to make sure their results reflected body type. Adjustments for age, sex, race, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and baseline body mass index were analyzed as well. 

The results concluded that the risk of cardiovascular death was about three times higher, and the risk of death from all causes was two times higher, in the individuals of normal weight with central obesity, compared with those with a normal body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio. 

The only way to reduce the risk for normal weight people is to lose weight and build muscle mass, says Lopez-Jimenez, so that the weight is redistributed. Exercise and a healthy diet is the proper way to treat this problem because you lose weight and build muscle mass at the same time. 

Many individuals know their body mass index these days; it’s also vital for them to know that a normal BMI doesn’t mean their risk for heart disease is low, concludes Dr. Lopez-Jimenez. Where the fat is distributed on their body is important, and it can be determined easily by getting a waist-to-hip measurement, even if their body weight is within normal limits, says Lopez-Jimenez. To be on the safe side you should always engage in a proper diet and exercise for at least thirty minutes a day. This will limit all health risks, improve your physique and make you feel great about yourself. 


Sources: Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, M.D., cardiologist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; Gregg Fonarow, M.D., spokesman, American Heart Association, and professor, cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles; Aug. 27, 2012, presentation, European Society of Cardiology Congress, Munich, Germany. Health

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Belly Fat May Improve Your Immune System & Repair Tissue


We all are aware that belly fat is related to serious health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer. But a new study has demonstrated that belly fat can be helpful in repairing tissue and improving your immune system. 


There is a fatty membrane, known as the omentum that lingers from the stomach, which is located in all animals and was recently perceived to be useless in humans. This membrane aligns the organs located in the abdomen and plays the role as storage for fat. I understand that belly fat may seem unnecessary for most of us because of the harmful effects and unattractiveness but there is a reason why the belly fat is there after all. 

This study that revealed the benefits of belly fat was headed by Makio Iwashima, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. The omentum cells of mice were studied by researchers to see if the cells had any effects on the response of the immune system. I speculate that the omentum cells of mice and humans are similar so that’s why the mice were used in this particular study. 

Researchers were looking to determine if the omentum cells had any effect on the T-lymphocyte cells. T-cells are a very vital part of the immune system response, which usually play as the first defense to harmful bacteria. When T-cells discover bacteria or an infection, the cells will multiply to fight off the foreign body to protect your immune system. When the omentum cells where paired up with active and producing T-cells, the T-lymphocyte cells died rather than multiply. Unfortunately the omentum cells had no effect on T-cells that were inactive. 

According to researchers, omentum cells are utilized to regulate the body’s response to harmful bacteria and contribute to suppressing the immune system response. Possibly, in the future, omentum cells may be an asset to develop new drugs that would suppress the immune system but with lesser side effects than the immune-suppressing drugs that are currently available.  



The other intriguing aspect of belly fat was its important role in repairing damaged tissue. Researchers found mesenchymal stem cells, which are used by the body to regenerate damaged tissue. The stem cells will journey to the area of the injury to repair damaged tissue which is essential to wound healing. 

Rather than being a problem, belly fat could be very useful to human survival. It has been discovered by researchers to repair damaged tissue, help regulate the immune system and heal wounds which are amazing. In the coming years, belly fat may be a selection for new medical treatments for auto-immune diseases and organ transplants. With that being said, it is still important to eat healthy and exercise on a daily basis. Even if it’s a quick walk through the park it’s better than doing nothing at all and a great start. Remember to consult with your physician before you make any major diet or exercise changes to make sure it is healthy for you. 


Source: Medical Daily