Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Why excess abdominal fat is more DEADLY than you think

Below is an article contributed by Mike Geary, the founder of TruthAboutAbs.com (use your affil link). I thought this was an important topic to share with you because the reality is that most people simply don't realize how dangerous their excess abdominal fat really is to their health.

The Hidden Dangers of Your Excess Abdominal Fat - It's More Serious Than a Vanity Issue!

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don't realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly demonstrated that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that "beer belly" appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase the risk your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your body on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There's just no way around it. Besides, a side-effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.

So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for "miracle" fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can't spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn't work that way.

The ONLY solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I've actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise/diet group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.

Well, the good news is that I've spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it "in the trenches" with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

The entire solution... all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program.
Keep in mind that the point of this whole program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective strategies for losing your stubborn abdominal fat, so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.

If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork... it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply the information I teach. If you apply it, the results will come. It's really that simple.

The only reason most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS.

Don't waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this problem at...

TruthAboutAbs.com

Train hard, eat right, and enjoy life!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs

Sunday, 1 August 2010

Truth About Abs - Facts

Facts You MUST Understand if You Are Ever Going to Lose Your Belly Fat and Get Six Pack Abs

1. Many so-called "health foods" are actually cleverly disguised junk foods that can actually stimulate you to gain more belly fat... yet the diet food marketing industry continues to lie to you so they can maximize their profits.

2. Ab exercises such as crunches, sit-ups, and ab machines are actually the LEAST effective method of getting flat six pack abs. We'll explore what types of exercises REALLY work in a minute.

3. Boring repetitive cardio exercise routines are NOT the best way to lose body fat and uncover those six pack abs. I'll tell you the exact types of unique workouts that produce 10x better results below.

4. You DON'T need to waste your money on expensive "extreme fat burner" pills or other bogus supplements. I'll show you how to use the power of natural foods in more detail below.

Before we get to #5, if you didn't do it already, make sure not to miss out on this free report with tons of fat loss tips today...

Click here to get the FREE report

Get Six Pack Abs

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Strengthen your abdominal muscles and lose body fat. The concept is simple, but putting it into action isn't simple at all. It will take dedication, time and patience to get a six pack but in the end, the effort is well worth it. To get six pack abs you need to do two things: Build muscle and lose fat and you get this by dieting and exercising daily. You can have the most toned and muscular abs, but it will not show if there is a layer of fat over them. This article will discuss ways in which you can accomplish both of these goals.

Steps

Build Muscle

Do Crunches. Lie on the floor (with or without a mat) with your arms in front of your chest (never behind your head). Bend your knees. Raise your shoulders (upper torso) towards your knees, using strictly your abdominal muscles. It is very important to not lift your entire back off the floor, as this can cause back strain, and the extended movement does not help you develop six pack abs any faster. The most important part of the crunch is the initial flexing of your abs as you lift your shoulders off the floor. As soon as you begin lifting off the floor exhale through your mouth, ending with a gasp once your shoulders are off the floor. Then pause for a second once you are at the top of the crunch and exhale the last bit of air from your diaphragm while flexing your abs. Now lower back down slowly and controlled while inhaling through your nose, just until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Do not let your head touch the ground.
Do Sit Ups. Lie on the floor, feet on the floor, knees up and hands crossed on your chest. Have someone hold your feet down, or wedge them underneath something heavy. Sit all the way up, lifting your lower back off the floor along with your shoulder blades. Lower yourself down. Repeat. Once this becomes relatively easy for you (i.e. you can do a quite a bit with ease) start adding more challenges. Find an incline bench or do these with an exercise ball. Once you "graduate" from that, do weighted sit ups. Hold a weight on your chest while you do these. As these become easier, hold heavier and heavier weights.
Do Bicycle Crunches. Lift your feet off the ground while doing the crunches by alternating each leg in the air. Bring your left knee up toward your right shoulder and then your right knee toward your left shoulder.
Train your entire core. To build really great abs it's important to first understand what abs do. Their full name is 'rectus abdominis'. The 'rectus' bit, is Latin for 'straight, proper, upright'. Contrary to popular opinion, the abs' primary job is not to curl you up into a ball, but they work together with the back muscles to maintain correct posture and stabilize the spine. Therefore training your abs without training your back will create an imbalance in the musculature that supports your spine. These muscles are not just for show! So the best exercises for abs are ones that force your entire core to go into overdrive to support your spine. Some exercises that do this are squats and deadlifts. These exercises will train your entire core to work together to do what it is designed to do. At the same time they will also train a lot of other muscles (e.g. glutes and quads), and this promotes even more rapid fat loss as the body recovers.
Do Leg Lifts. Lie on the floor, legs straight out, hands at your sides. Lift your legs straight up (not bending your knees at all) until they're at a 90 degree angle (or close). Lower your legs and repeat without letting your legs touch the floor. For more challenge there is equipment at most gyms that will allow you to raise yourself up using your arms as support and dangle your legs. If you're using this piece of equipment, you can make it easier by just raising your knees to your chest. It's more difficult to raise your legs to a horizontal position with your legs straight. This helps firm up the lower abdomen. If you're truly a monster, try doing leg lifts with a medicine ball hanging from your feet. Or, hang from a pull up bar and raise your legs in front of you all the way up to the bar.
Do Jackknife Sit Ups. Lie down flat on the floor. Place your hands on the ground to your sides for balance; you can pick them up as you get used to the movement. Simultaneously raise your knees and torso so that your knees and face meet on an imaginary line extending from your pelvis to the ceiling. You should be able to kiss your knees at the top of the motion. Your legs will naturally fold bringing your feet towards your hips, much like a jackknife. Lie back down (i.e. "spread out") and repeat. Place a weight between your feet when you think you can handle it.
Do static holds. Put your body into the push-up position but with your elbows on the floor, and your whole body flat. This position is known as the static hold position and it trains your core (including your abs) to hold the body in place which is the real purpose of your abs. Hold this position for as long as possible. Beginners should be aiming to start off with at least 45 seconds, while seasoned ab workers are known to achieve over 5 minute static holds. To perform the side static hold, roll onto one side of your body and lift into the same position as before, but this time only one arm will be on the ground with the other arm pointed straight up the air and your non weight bearing leg resting on your bottom leg. Once again, hold this for as long as possible.
Train your oblique muscles. It's not as important to work on your oblique muscles at first, but eventually you'll want to start working these too. These are the muscles to either side of your stomach. There are multiple ways to do this and anything that includes twisting your torso against a resistance counts. There are twisting machines at gyms, you can twist while you do sit-ups, you can do side bends, you can twist side to side with a medicine ball in hand, etc. Be aware though, that many beginners tend to have weak obliques compared to their abs (it simply isn't used as much in daily life) so go easy on the sides at first.
Find new ways to crunch, bend and twist in your daily life. Some possibilities include:
- Use a stability ball. Do your crunches on the ball to introduce instability to your workout, which will improve your balance too. There are also lots of core exercises that can be done with a stability ball. You can also use a small bubble used for physical therapy.
- Duck and twist during your daily routine. Reach with your left hand to things on your right and vice versa. If you feel like turning around to face something, see if you can do it with keeping your hips in place and twisting at the waist. This is awkward when talking to other people, use only against inanimate objects. While walking or standing, pretend that something is coming toward you and you have to duck to get out of the way. Do this as often as you are comfortable or at times when it won't look weird. You can bend forward from the hips or, if you're really into it, bend at the knees too and really "sink" out of the way.
- Incorporate Sprints into your regular workout routine. Any higher-impact running works the abs, but intense sprinting derives power specifically from the lower abs.
- Add complex core-movements to your workout. That will boost your overall body constitution tremendously: For example, combine push-ups with rows. Go into a push-up position on two dumbbells. Now don't do a push-up, but instead start to row alternating dumbbells. See how much power you need only to hold balance? Combine exercises! Be creative. Tension is your friend.

Lose Fat

Eat Smaller Dinners. Large dinners tend to hurt a fat loss process because most people aren't very active after dinner. This is the basis for advice along the lines of "don't eat anything within a certain number of hours before going to bed". The claim that your entire dinner is stored as fat isn't entirely true. The process is more complicated than that, but the fact you don't move after dinner is enough to hurt your cause. You can offset this by eating a larger lunch or snacking healthily before dinner. Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellent choices for curbing appetite not to mention other health benefits. A handful of nuts might do the same. Drink a large glass of water before sitting at the table.
Eat Breakfast. Many people skip breakfast because they don't have time for it. The harm of skipping breakfast from a weight loss perspective is it makes you eat a huge lunch since your body hasn't had anything in the past 12 (or more) hours. When you eat a huge lunch you get that after meal drowsiness so now you're both unproductive and inactive. Cereals don't take much time to prepare and consume, and most of them are very healthy nowadays. If you are extremely pressed for time, consider grabbing a box of breakfast bars or a smoothie and throwing one in your bag when you leave for work or school. Some breakfast bars out there are also excellent sources of fiber. Even an apple or a yogurt is better than nothing. Ideally, your breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day, lunch the second, and dinner the smallest.
Lift Weights. The more muscle your body has, the more calories your body burns, even at rest. Plus, resistance training is important to limit the amount of muscle mass lost whilst reducing your calorie intake. If you only do cardiovascular exercises (running, playing basketball, football) without weight training then you may lose the muscle mass, including the muscle in your abs.
Keep Metabolism Steady. Eating one small meal every three hours that you are awake will not speed up your metabolism, rather, it will keep it going. Your metabolism goes and slows with your food intake and eating something small every three hours will keep that metabolism burning calories and will help you lose weight. Every meal should include lean protein, so that your body won't need to break down your muscles for fuel, which would shrink your abs as well as slow down your metabolism.
Drink More Water Every Day. To find out how much water you need to drink as a minimum per day, halve your weight (in pounds) and that is how many ounces of water you need to drink. So a 150lb person would need to drink a minimum of 2.2 liters a day. It sounds like an absurd amount of water, but actually, you can drink tea without sugar to make up some of the quota. For fat loss purposes, it is important to remind yourself that thirst is a much weaker stimulus than hunger. If you consistently feel hungry after meals, don't immediately think that you need to eat more. You may simply be thirsty!
Switch out refined grains for whole grains. In a scientific study, people who ate all whole grains (in addition to five servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat dairy, and two servings of lean meat, fish, or poultry) lost more belly fat than another group that ate the same diet, but with all refined grains. A diet rich in whole grains changes the glucose and insulin response in your body, which hastens the melting of fat, and visceral fat, that deep layer of fat, is easier for your body to burn than the subcutaneous fat under your skin (the fat that you can see and grab).[1]

Tips

Be sure to exercise your back muscles just as much as your abdominal muscles or you might develop poor posture.
Don't over work yourself, as this could lead to unhealthy habits it the future. If you start to feel unbearable pain in your stomach section, take a break and get back to it after adequate rest.
Don't torture yourself by not eating your favorite foods. Try getting them in the light form or choosing a day out of the week to enjoy your favorite food.
Supplements can be useful, but they are just what they advertise themselves to be; supplements. There is no magic pill to make you lose weight with no work. There are some supplements out there that can help you lose weight by increasing your metabolism or by helping you curb your appetite, but you still have to work. Most tend to be "snake oil" and will not really give you any results while costing you great deals of money. And remember, even if they DO help, all supplements still require the consumer to watch their diet and increase their exercise. A simple multivitamin or mineral pill is likely all that most people will need.
Opinions on weight loss and muscle training routines are like noses - everyone has one but they're all different. In the end, you should find something you enjoy and that you will stick for life. Over time, you can modify it until you get the results that are right for you.
When exercising you actually break down the muscle and if you give then the proper time to heal (and eat the proper foods) they will grow back stronger than before. Also make sure you give yourself adequate amount of rest (8 hrs for adults, and 8-10 hrs for kids and teenagers).
Drinking too much water (several liters, especially while sweating) can dangerously dilute certain salts and minerals. If you are exercising heavily and sweating a lot, you will need to replace your salts as well as fluids. Supplement your water drinking with a sports drink or potassium rich fruits such as bananas and apples.
It's a genetic fact that for some people there will always be just a little more fat over the muscle layers than we'd like. That's the way nature is and forcing your body to lose more than that can be a very dangerous effort.
Many people's abdominal muscles are off-set, which can give the illusion of a 5 pack, 4 pack, or even 3 pack depending upon your genetics, the thickness of your abs, and your present level of body fat.
It may help to use a record-keeper or plan book for your exercise program. Exercise journals are fantastic for this purpose because as you enter daily information in the journal, you're putting together a complete record that can be referred back to in the future.
If you feel you need to, ease into the changes in your lifestyle. Start eating breakfast. If you have difficulty with this, start with a couple glasses of water or a large cup of coffee right when you wake up. It'll go down easy and prepare your stomach to get back to work. Cut the amount of dinners little by little. For the exercises, start slow and increase pace and/or repetitions as you are comfortable. Attempting lifestyle changes in a drastic, sudden manner can backfire. Do what you can but don't sell yourself short.
Make a photo diary of your body but don't take pictures too often (once a month is fine). Don't study your pictures intensely since you might not get motivated if you don't see a difference. If you are consistent in your diet and exercise, you should see changes monthly. Keep in mind that you won't see changes in the mirror everyday since they will be very small improvements.
Unless you are watching your weight for another reason, ignore the reading on the scale. You may be decreasing your body fat but your weight may stay the same (or even increase) as you build muscle. Muscle tissue is denser than fat so it will be heavier than the same volume of fat. Water weight can also vary your readings by a surprisingly large amount.
Try to keep a steady eating routine. It will throw your body off if you skip a meal and starve yourself only to stuff your face later. Avoid such situations as much as possible.

Warnings

As with any exercise program, consult your doctor before making major changes in your workout routine, especially if you have medical problems. Increase loads slowly. Being eager is great but setting unrealistic goals isn't going to help you in the long run.
Most, if not all of these exercises are not recommended for people with lower back problems. There are many other ways to properly develop six pack abs without putting so much strain on your back. If in doubt or experiencing lower back pain, talk to a physical therapist for proper ways of performing the routines.
Don't neglect warm-ups or you may find yourself pulling muscles!
For people who have a few extra pounds around the belly and start this from scratch, building ab muscles may make you look larger in the belly for a period of time since you are putting on muscle beneath your fat at first. You may want to begin for a significant period of time by doing more cardiovascular exercises to lose fat all over the body. Doing specific muscle exercises, unfortunately, does not remove fat from that specific area of the body. Additionally, focusing solely on the abs can produce an imbalance in the body and may cause back problems where there were none before or exacerbate any existing problems.
Don't starve yourself. If you go hungry for an extended period of time your metabolism will slow down. The body, thinking that no food is available tries to make the best of what it has and goes into power-saving mode. Whilst on 'power-saving' mode, the body will supplement its carbohydrates (being burnt for energy) with the proteins in your muscles. What this means is that you are in fact eating back into that six pack just to try and make it show through.
Fiber also acts like a mild laxative. Be careful if you eat a lot of fiber. It can also cause some gas if you're not used to taking in so much fiber. If you increase your fiber dosage by a lot, increase your water intake too. Excessive fiber with little water can result in digestive problems.
Be wary of ab machines shown on TV. Many of these are in fact rip offs and you are more likely to stay motivated if you incorporate an abs workout into a regular gym session (you are less likely to get sick of it).

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

5min - How to get six pack abs video 5min is a videopedia for instructional videos. Source of images in this article, shared with permission.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Get Six Pack Abs. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Lose 5 Pounds in 5 Weeks

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Losing five pounds in five weeks is considered healthy weight loss. Make sure you ask your doctor if this plan is the right one for you so it will be healthy and effective. Good luck!

Steps

Restrict calories moderately. Start by reducing your intake by 200 calories. Also begin to eat more fruit and vegetables instead of fatty or sugary foods; they contain plenty of fiber and vitamins, which help keep you full.
Gradually increase your calorie restriction until at the end of the 5 weeks you are eating 500 calories less per day than you used to.
Eat a balanced diet every day. Include one lean source of protein, one serving of complex carbohydrates, and two to three servings of vegetables and fruit at each meal. It is suggested that you get your daily percentage of calories in the following portions: 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates, 20% fat.
Eat five to six small meals per day, spaced about two to three hours apart. If you eat before you get hungry, you don't need to eat much. If you wait until you feel hungry, you will eat far more than you need to. Now, we know this is really inconvenient for anybody who actually goes to school or has a job so just make sure you eat small but adequate portions whenever you eat and have a healthy lifestyle.
It's a good idea to exercise by walking 30-45 minutes every day. Some people can start out with 20 but as you progress it should increase. Do not use ankle weights as this is the leading cause of orthopedic injury. Walk up hills or on inclines as your conditioning improves. You can jog for 20-30 minutes a day for those who have less time.
Resist food cravings by brushing your teeth when you feel hungry. Food cravings are often strong in the late afternoon, and if brushing your teeth fails you should eat one of your meals during this time. Remember, when you get cravings, you are burning fat so sip some water or have a light, low calorie snack. Fruits and veggies are great! The most important thing that many people don’t know is that 70%-80% of body fat loss is from the food you eat. Only 5%-30% body fat loss is from the gym.

Tips

A gradual, moderate restriction of calories together with exercise is the only proven method to lose weight and keep it off.
Don't become a slave to the scale; focus on feeling healthier as well as losing weight. It doesn't matter what the scale says but how you look and if you are happy with yourself.
Keep your rate of weight loss under two pounds per week; adjust your level of calorie restriction by the amount of weight loss you experience each week.
As a general rule, a non-active person requires 12 calories per pound per day to maintain their current weight. So a 150 pound person who is not active would require 1800 calories per day to maintain their weight.
You have to burn 3500 extra calories or eat 3500 fewer calories to lose one pound.
Don't think that just trying to eat less will help you lose more: It won't. your body is used to the amount of food you eat and changing that will make your body think you are "dying" and will use the calories it stores to help your body. Eat, but eat good foods.
Never eat fewer than 1200 calories in a day or restrict your calories by more than 550 per day. Your body will go into "starvation" mode and your metabolism will slow down dramatically. When you begin to eat more, your body will be more likely to store what you eat, causing you to gain weight fast.
There are two things the body requires that have no calories: water and fiber. The more of these you consume, the better for you and your weight loss goals. Many vegetables are full of both: this is why a one pound package of salad mix has only 100 calories or so.
When counting calories, look into the total number of servings in a container and then calculate. Often times calories per serving are in mind and one tends to forget that there might be 2.5 servings in the bag or can.
Read the food labels on all cans and jars. Almost any ingredient that ends in "-ose" (dextrose, sucrose, etc.), is a kind of sugar, as is any kind of honey or syrup.
Fructose, a fruit sugar, is metabolized less quickly, and is a better choice than sucrose (table sugar made from sugar cane or sugar beets). Maple syrup also contains calcium and iron so it is a wiser choice than sucrose.
Notice how so many so-called low fat foods are actually high in sugar and have more calories than you might expect. Reduced fat, reduced carbohydrate, reduced calories--none of these are excuses to eat more.
Don't eat foods that list '(partially) hydrogenated oil' in the ingredients. Hydrogenated oil contains trans-fatty acids, worse for your health than saturated fat. Food manufacturers in the United States are legally allowed to say that their products contain 0 grams of trans fat as long as one serving contains fewer than .5 grams of trans fat. Check the ingredient label--no matter what the front of the package says--to be sure that your food is completely trans-fat free.
The "0 gram" labeling rule applies not only to trans fats, but to carbohydrates and total fats as well. Anything with less than .5 grams of fat can be labeled "fat-free." Also, if something has less than 5 calories per serving, then it can legally be labeled as having 0 calories. (An example is Sweet 'N' Low, an artificial sweetener, which contains 4 calories per packet, but can legally be labeled as having 0 calories. The dextrose used as a carrier for the saccharin contains 1 gram of carbohydrates (listed on the label.))
Don't avoid fat (or carbohydrates for that matter) altogether! Healthy fats such as mono-unsaturated fat (predominant in olive oil) and foods which contain naturally high amounts of fatty acids such as Omega-3 are perfectly acceptable.
Sugar is addictive and causes cravings for more food and more sugar. This is one reason why many fast foods, and some canned foods at our supermarkets are loaded up with sugar. The reason sugar is addictive is that our brains operate on carbohydrates only, and sugar is one of the fastest ways to get carbohydrates to the brain. A quick flood of carbs to the brain gives a rush ("sugar high"), which is followed by a crash when the body produces insulin to combat the high blood sugar. When sugar is combined with fiber, like in whole fruits, it is metabolized more slowly, which is healthier.
Plan out a good exercise timetable. One of the reasons why so many of us do not have time to exercise is because we do not have a proper timetable allocated for exercising. Draft out an exercise timetable and show it to your friends, so as to maintain your commitment in it. If you are someone who is always backing out at the last minute when it is time to exercise, you should always ask a friend to exercise with you. This will make you feel responsible to turn out for exercising.

Warnings

Be sure to consult with your physician regarding your weight loss program; your physician is there to help and may have additional suggestions for you.
Fast and extreme weight loss is unhealthy and will ultimately result in weight gain. (This is also called "yo-yo dieting".)
Do not skip a meal just because you think that it will reduce weight. In fact, your body will go into "starvation mode," storing fat rather than burning fat.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

Choosing The Right Diet For You

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Lose 5 Pounds in 5 Weeks. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Lose Love Handle Fat

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Regardless of what you call them, they are not lovable and cuddly. Love handles are one of those upsetting things that exercise and diet just doesn't seem to affect. You CAN lose them though, here are 4 'how to's.

Steps

Regardless of what you call them, they are not lovable and cuddly. Love handles are one of those upsetting things that exercise and diet just doesn't seem to affect. If you have love handles, then losing fat likely isn't that important an issue.
Most people who are extremely overweight are not specifically worried about love handles like those that are otherwise reasonably trim. There are 2 approaches to getting rid of these annoying features that can make you look as fit and trim as you have been attempting to be, and lose love handles. Fat, no matter where it is on your body, will respond to exercise and diet.
You need to start with your diet. Even though you may not have a lot of fat on your body, you do need to deal with the problem that you have on the sides of your waist. A sensible diet could be the most vital part of getting you to where you would like to go with your whole abdominal area.
Drink Water to Lose Love Handles Fat!
You've potentially heard it a million times before but if you're like the majority, you are either going to drink it because you like it or forget the recommendation altogether. If you do not drink at least three liters of water per day, which is the same as 100 ounces, you won't be likely to get the results you would like. Water flushes out your system and it also helps you to feel fuller and prevent you from eating as much. It is one of the most significant things you can do for your body and your wellbeing.
Eat vegetables and Fruits to Lose Love Handles Fat!
Your body needs nutrients to perform the functions it must in order for you to survive or to lose pounds. Veggies and fruits, particularly those that are raw, are packed full of a selection of nutrient elements including antioxidants which fight off disease and also strengthen your immune system. They offer you fiber for digestion to help in keeping your body clean and toxin free.
Ditch the fast food to Lose Love Handles Fat!
You know a huge, oily cheeseburger isn't going to help lose those love handles or burn any fat. It is only going to contribute to the issue. You can't have it all ways, even if you attempt to go forwards and backwards between a healthy diet and a junk food diet. A part time approach will not get the job done. Additionally, when you eat a lot of preprocessed food with trans-fat and sugar, you are putting yourself in danger of diabetes and heart disease.
Get Moving to Lose Love Handles Fat!
You need to raise your level activity to burn any body fat that you do have in this area but it's also necessary to do some exercises that may strengthen the muscles in your abdominal area. The obliques are the muscles that are on the sides of your abdomen and they are in charge of turning and twisting motions. You must use exercises that involve these motions to tone your obliques. Bicycling ( lying on the floor on your back, hands clasped behind head, bringing knee to elbow on opposite sides ) is one of the finest exercises for this area.
Random exercise alone will not help. If your love handles are making you insane, try a plan that is specifically meant to help you burn fat and watch them melt away!
You really can lose your love handles fat by eating right, using up fat, and toning, and by applying dedication and persistence to your diet and exercise plan.

Video

This video focuses on various exercise routines you can do in order to lose love handles.

Warnings

It's essential to consult with your physician before starting any weight loss or fitness regime.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Lose Love Handle Fat. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Lose Stomach Fat With Cardio

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Don't want to go on a diet? Still want to be able to eat whatever? Try this...

Steps

First, what is cardio? Cardio is just keeping your heartrate up to burn fat and calories. Doing cardio has many other benefits too. A few examples are: it increases your lung capacity, reduces stress, helps you sleep better, and it makes you feel good.
Running is a great way to get your heart rate up. If you have bad knees or its painful to run, try an elliptical. Treadmills feel the same on your knees as pavement.
Cycling is another option. You just have to remember that you need to keep your heartrate up.
This could go on all day. There are a lot of tings you can do. If you don't like running, don't. Try something else. If you hate going to the gym and like socializing, try team sport or invite some friends to keep you motivated.
Really, you only need to keep your heartrate up for 35 to 40 minutes to burn a significant amount of calories and fat. Don't kill yourself trying to run or bike for an hour.
Pick something you're willing to do three times a week. Remember to switch it up a little to keep it from getting boring.
Work hard at it. Exercising isn't necessecarily what you do, but how hard you work.
Don't keep your workout the same. Not only will it get really boring, but your body will eventually get used to it. This means that you won't burn as much calories or fat.
Just have fun with it. Dancing is a great way to get your heartrate up and for some people, it's fun.
There is no perfect workout. Whatever gets your heartrate up that you enjoy doing is fine.
Try to cut back on fatty foods and shrink your servings. You aren't going to lose fat if you just keep packing it in. Also, your food serving should not be a whole lot bigger than your fist. Remember the food pyramid though.

Tips

Try exercising with a significant other or a group of friends to keep you motivated.
Drink water. While working out your body loses water as sweat...so you have to replace it.
Eat healthy. Instead of potato chips, try pita chips or baked chips.
Stop snacking and eat meals more frequently. Snacking just adds extra calories your body doesn't really need. Eating meals frequently increases your metabolic rate and your body will burn more calories.
Strech before and after your exercise.
Don't exercise right after you eat. It will give you cramps and your food won't digest properly.
GOOD LUCK!!!

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Lose Stomach Fat With Cardio. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Lose Weight With Fat Burning Foods and Lifestyle Changes

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Have a few pounds too many? Too lazy or too busy to work out or diet? Here's how to lose some weight and hardly try!

Steps

Most likely you are fat because of excess water weight! When you don't get enough water your body goes into "desert mode" and stores the water in your body for later use when you really need it. If you drink a gallon a day, you may very well lose a pound in two days!
Eat fat-burning foods. They help convert body fat into energy. Among these are:
- Cayenne pepper
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Citrus fruit
- Apples and berries
- Soy
- Bananas
- Dairy
- Oatmeal
- Yams or Sweet Potatoes
- Fish
Make little changes in your lifestyle. These all add up:
- Always take the skin off your poultry before you eat it!
- Drain french fries thouroughly before consumption
- Blot your pizza with a napkin, you can cut up to a tablespoon of grease.
- Avoid soda and Capri Suns. These are chock full of sugars. Very bad. Drink herbal teas and fruit juices instead.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Park as far away from the building as possible.
- Eat at least five to six times a day. It helps speed up your metabolism.

Tips

Learn how to eat right.
Realize that you can't change all your bad eating habits overnight.

Warnings

Do not rely on this if you need to lose lots of weight fast.

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Lose Weight With Fat Burning Foods and Lifestyle Changes. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Lose Weight Fast

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Do you want to slim down fast for that beach vacation or high school reunion? While there are many things you can do to shed pounds, losing weight too quickly, like any sudden change to your body, can be dangerous. While fad diets, diet pills, and fasting may indeed induce rapid weight loss, these methods can cause you to lose muscle and may also injure your heart and other organs fairly quickly. The best solution? Don't go for an overnight miracle. Instead, follow these steps to lose weight rapidly, healthily, and sustainably.

Steps

Have confidence in yourself. You should know the exact reason that stimulates you to reduce your weight. This will help keep you motivated in your weight loss program.
Set an achievable goal for your weight reduction. If the aim is not practical then you will easily get disheartened and stop following your regime. You must set a target that has a time limit. The amount of weight you want to lose and the time within which you would like to lose it should be decided beforehand. If the time and amount of weight is clearly decided primarily, then your enthusiasm will keep you on the track until you reach your destination.
Determine your daily caloric intake. Losing weight is simply an activity. Lower your calories intake without starving. Remember to calculate your metabolism. The metabolism is a large part of your calories burned in an average day. To win the battle, know how many calories you consume in a day.
- Write down all the things you eat on a typical day. Carry a small notebook with you and write down every snack, every drink, and the contents of every meal. There are also great websites that you can use to keep track of calories, get recipes, and help achieve your goal. Don't forget to include the pats of butter or the spoonful of sugar in your coffee. It's best to do this for at least a couple weekdays and a weekend; it's even better if you can go a full week. There are also calorie tracking websites that can help you to do this, such as the US government Pyramid Tracker website.
- Do an itemized calorie count. When possible, write down the number of calories in each thing you eat as you eat it. Keep in mind that the recommended serving size is often considerably smaller than the serving you actually eat. Look up the calorie count on the internet for foods that don't have calories listed on the container or for fast food meals. You don't have to be 100% accurate, but you do want a good estimate of the number of calories you're taking in. There is an idea that multiplying your ideal weight by ten will produce a rough estimate of the number of calories you need to eat per day to maintain your weight. This is not true for everyone. You may wind up grossly under or over estimating the number of calories you should be eating. Consult a nutritionist. Use a scientific or health website to determine the number of calories you should eat a day or consult your doctor. Everyone has different metabolisms and there is no blanket rule that covers everyone's recommended calorie intake. Reducing 500 calories per day from the calories you eat to maintain your weight can help you lose a pound of fat per week.[1]
Go over the list and decide which foods to cut out or reduce. Cutting calories is usually a lot easier than you might think. For example, that daily tall latte in the morning may pack 500 calories. Since a pound of flab (lost or gained) is roughly equivalent to 3,500 calories, replacing that rich beverage with black coffee can help you lose a pound a week. Other easy cuts include salad dressing (salad dressing is the number one source of fat in the average American woman's diet[2]), soda pop, candy, and butter. Look at the nutritional information for the foods you eat, pay special attention to your intake of saturated fats and empty calorie, high-sugar foods. You don't need to cut these things out entirely, but if you reduce your intake of high-fat, high-calorie foods you'll lose weight faster.
Seek out alternatives to the unhealthy foods you've identified. You can simply reduce the amount of soda you drink or mayonnaise you put on your sandwiches, or you can substitute healthier choices. Drink water instead of soda, for example, or use mustard instead of mayo. Low-fat and low-calorie options are also available for most foods, and many of these are natural, (although some are made with strange chemicals), and tasty. Start trying to eat healthy in most meals:
- Choose lean meats. Chicken and fish are both very low in fat, and certain fish like salmon, sardines, and fresh tuna are an excellent sources of antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids, which are also beneficial to your health, so aim to replace some or all of the beef or pork in your diet with these foods.
- Replace high-calorie side dishes with healthier alternatives. Many people get a ton of calories from side dishes such as macaroni and cheese, French fries, or potato salad. You can eat healthier and lose weight by replacing these with fresh vegetables and salads. Pre-made salads are practically effortless, and when accompanied by a reduced-calorie dressing or no dressing at all, they're weight-loss gold.
- Start your days off right. A fattening breakfast of bacon and eggs or a pastry can be replaced with yogurt, oatmeal, high-fiber, low-sugar cereals; or fresh fruit for fruit smoothies. However, for those on a low carbohydrate diet bacon and eggs are a great combo for breakfast, since neither have carbs. But don't fall into the trap of skipping breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast increases your rest metabolic rate earlier in the day, and reduces snacking before lunch.
Plan your meals. Look for healthy, delicious meals online or in your cookbooks, and create a menu for the week. Make sure that your meal plan reduces your total calorie intake: you're not going to lose weight if you consume the same amount of calories by eating different foods. Make a list of what you'll need for these meals, and -- except for a few snacks, of course -- don't stray from your list when you get to the market. Planning your meals helps ensure you get a balanced diet and reduces the temptation to stop off for fast food or order a pizza. Remember, it's easier to stick to your shopping list if you shop when you aren't hungry - this will help avoid impulse buys which contribute to calorie consumption.
Watch your portion sizes. Eating a whole bag of rice cakes in one sitting won't help you lose weight. When eating chips, nuts, or dried fruit, put a portion in a small bowl and then put the bag away. That way you won't mindlessly eat a larger portion than you had intended. Even if you only make minimal changes to your diet choices, reducing portion size will inevitably reduce caloric intake. A great way to watch portion sizes while snacking is to buy one serving 100 calorie packages - and they come in many favorite snack food items! Eat slowly to avoid overeating; you will get satisfied with less calories.
Graze on healthy snacks. Just because you're getting healthy doesn't mean you can't snack. In fact, eating small meals and snacks throughout the day, or grazing, has been shown to aid weight loss, compared to eating three large meals a day, by keeping metabolism steadier. Pick snacks that are low in calories and fat and high in fiber dried apricots, nuts, rice cakes, fruits, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and so on. Vegetables are generally very low in calories, very high in fiber, and full of flavor and nutrition. Avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes, and try to eat vegetables plain, without fatty dressings or dips. Fruit also makes a good snack. Fruit contains more soluble fiber than vegetables, which slows your body's absorption of carbohydrates, thus releasing energy more slowly preventing sugar highs, and keeping you feeling full longer. Fruit juices are not a replacement for the real thing. You need that fiber, and juices often have more calories than the equivalent serving of fruit and as many calories as soda! Be careful with dried fruits, because without the water, you tend to eat more, and fruits, when dried, are calorie-rich per ounce. With any dry or dried food, be sure to drink plenty of water.
Get more fiber. There are many myths about fiber, but there is science to back up its helpful role in the diet. Fiber keeps the right amount of water in your intestines, making your digestive system work more efficiently and helping to keep you regular. Thus, just eating enough fiber may help you feel slimmer in just a day or so. There is also evidence that fiber in the diet can help prevent stroke and heart disease, ease the effects of diabetes, and may even directly help in weight loss.
Drink plenty of water. Adequate water is essential for health, and a great many people simply don't get enough. What's more, if you're chronically dehydrated, your body will retain water in unflattering places, so if you make sure to get plenty of fluids you can start visibly trimming down in as little as a day. Remember, the more you exercise, the more water you'll need. See the related wikiHow for more details on how much water you should be getting. Drink one glass of water before your meal; it will help digestion and also to get the sensation of fullness in your stomach that will keep you from overeating; that in combination with eating slowly, will allow you to stop eating when you are satisfied, not when you already ate too much (If you eat too fast you can get full, even bloated but still be hungry) .
Write down your targets on sticky note pads and then stick them in most spaces of your home. These stuck notes will always remind you of your goal and will further inspire you to stay on your regime. They would not let you forget your goals at any time.
Exercise. Remember, you can lose weight either by decreasing your calorie intake or increasing the number of calories you burn. Any health strategy should include both, but if you want to lose weight fast, exercise is essential.
- Perform low impact aerobic activities. Moderate aerobic workouts incorporating brisk walking, cycling, aerobic machines, or swimming not only burn calories they also keep your heart healthy. Swimming is great, especially if you are quite overweight or have joint problems, because you can get the same benefits of running typically burning even more calories with much less stress on your joints. Try to get at least 30-40 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three or four days per week.
- Pump some iron. Resistance training, weight training, can help both sexes stay lean by building muscle and raising metabolism. The fact is, hours and hours of aerobic exercise won't help most people lose weight fast because your metabolism drops back to normal fairly quickly after stopping the exercise. If you gain muscle, however, your body's resting metabolism, (the amount of calories you burn when you're just sitting still), increases, because muscle requires a lot of calories to maintain. Studies have shown consistent weight training to raise the body's metabolism by 15%. This means an average woman might burn 200-300 more calories at rest every day! Resistance training is the gift that keeps on giving!
Rest properly. This means not only taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and taking 1-2 days off from exercising each week; it also means knowing how much sleep you need, since sleep deficiency impairs your ability to lose fat.
Be realistic. Don't expect a miracle. Healthy weight loss can be achieved fairly quickly, but you'll need to be patient. In addition, be sure to set realistic goals. Make sure that the weight you're trying to reach is a healthy weight for you, and keeping in mind that gaining pounds of muscle will help you lose fat, be trimmer, and look better even though you don't actually lose any weight. Your goal should be a healthy body, not a number of pounds! Everyone looks good at a different weight. A short person may look really good at about 112 pounds, but a person of a taller height would just look unhealthy. Keep yourself at a weight that makes you look good, not at a number that sounds good.
Make adjustments. A successful weight loss strategy based on reducing calorie intake and increasing activity can be adjusted to maintain your desired weight once you reach it. Unlike typical diets, this method is sustainable; it is a lifestyle change, not a binge-and-purge exercise. Slowly adjust your diet and exercise to include more weight training and calories, as much as is comfortable for you. If you do gain any weight back, you want that weight to be lean, toned muscle, not fat. In addition, weight training, no matter what your age, prevents muscle atrophy and can help stave off osteoporosis.
- Instead of thinking of it as losing a certain amount of pounds, think of it as being a certain weight. So if you are 145 pounds, and you would like to lose 10 pounds, think of it as being 135 pounds. This helps you think about it as a long-term goal and not just losing the weight to gain it back again.
Be confident. You need to believe in yourself! If you want to diet, and you know that it will make you feel better, then you need confidence. Otherwise, the temptation to cheat on your diet will make it harder, and you will not feel better when you do lose weight. Avoid temptations like chocolate, ice cream, and cookies. They may taste good, but there are other foods that taste delicious, too, without being unhealthy. You need to always encourage yourself to achieve the goals that you have set. Learn to evaluate your efforts fairly and objectively. If you fail to achieve your target for the week, find out why is it so. Is it because you have missed an exercise session? Or you have been eating junk food for one of the days? After evaluating, look ahead to next week and try your best to stick to your plan.
Be consistent and disciplined, and have self motivation. To lose weight effectively, you need to stick to your weight loss plan religiously so as to see results. When you think about giving up, visualize the benefits of slimming down successfully.
After you achieve your targets successfully, you must maintain your weight loss. You must form a way of life that is healthy for you. Make certain that you don't gain back the weight you lost by returning to your old eating habits.

Video

Tips

For maximum health, especially if you are changing your dietetic routine in any drastic manner, start a diabetic diet of vegetables, fruits, proteins in small portions of poultry, fish, eggs, and meat. Build your diet from there.
Determine your objectives to lose weight. To succeed in doing something, you need to have a very compelling objective or reason so that you will not lose track of your goal. Losing weight just for vanity's sake is usually less helpful than losing weight to improve health. Other than just exercising, you need to have a healthy diet so that you will have a better body and more energy to be positive throughout the day.
It's very good to do a blood test before you begin your new diet and exercise regimen. Some people may not need to lose a lot of weight, but they may need to lower the blood sugar level slightly. You can also check for mineral deficiencies.
The goal is to lose fat, not just weight in general. If you are doing strength training during your weight loss (which you should be), you might actually see an initial gain in weight -- don't worry! You have probably lost fat and gained muscle, which is denser than fat and is much healthier.
- A better measurement than what a scale reads is body fat percent. If you don't have access to calipers or a body fat scale, a better gauge is how your clothes fit and how you look rather than your absolute weight. If you can, though, it is good to measure your body fat about once per month. Men should be between 15%-25%, but no lower than 4%; and women 20%-30%, but no lower than 15%. Females have higher fat percentage due to pregnancy and menstrual requirements.
- Generally, with a combination of calorie reduction and increased activity, you want to reduce and burn a certain number of calories a day, causing a net loss of calories so your body is forced to use its own stores of fat. How much aerobic exercise you need to perform depends on what you eat, how fast you'd like to lose weight, and how much muscle you gain. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Men can safely lose around two pounds a week, and women can safely lose around one pound a week. Any more than this and you might be losing more muscle mass than fat. Thus, with a combination of calorie restriction and aerobic exercise, a man should aim to run a 3500-7000 calorie deficit each week, and women should aim for a 1750-3500 calorie deficit.
With regard to weights, men and women differ on their goals with weight training. Women, don't worry, no amount of weight training will make you as bulky as a man; women just don't have enough testosterone to build large muscles. The female body-builders you see are either taking steroids or training 2-3 hours every day. Male and female beginners should start with 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions, and should use the heaviest weight you can while still maintaining good form, even to the last repetition of the last set. Get a weight training book or find a reputable website that will show you different exercises and the correct form. When lifting properly, you will stretch the muscle during the exercise, but you should still stretch properly to prevent injury!
No matter what the magazine article says, spot improving is a myth! When your body burns fat, it takes it from all over your body, even if all you do are crunches. No amount of crunches will get rid of that gut if they are not backed up by proper aerobic exercise and diet! Washboard abs do not come from millions of sit ups; they come from having low levels of body fat. So if that is your goal, make sure you do plenty of aerobic exercise in addition to your ab routine.
Sugar comes in many disguises. Check your food labels: fructose, glucose, molasses, and corn syrup are all sugars. Limit all sugars, but especially stay away from high-fructose corn syrup. It is just a corn syrup full of sugar. Choosing foods without it will help you reach your weight loss goals faster.
Remember your body needs 'fuel' just like a car needs 'fuel'. Your body needs the 'right' kinds of food to lose weight effectively.
Don't taunt yourself by not letting yourself eat the occasional snack that you're craving. Just make sure you burn it off later with exercise
Despite popular belief it is not terrible to eat after 6 p.m. A reasonable dinner with extra protein if you've had a good weight training session is going to help deliver nutrients to the body to prepare it for the next day. Additionally if you find yourself very hungry before bed, a small bowl of high fiber cereal and low fat milk will actually help maintain your metabolism while you sleep. The key is to not overeat in the evenings.
Take the right vitamins for your requirements. While it is better to always get your nutrients from your food, most people miss something in their diet, especially when they're trying to cut calories. Vitamins and minerals play an important role in keeping your body chemistry balanced and your energy levels healthy.
If you find yourself missing some of your favorite foods, don't worry. There is no harm in having your treat once a week. Pick a day each week where you treat yourself to your guilty pleasure in moderation. If it's pizza, try going to a gourmet pizza place that will use better ingredients and fresher vegetables. If it's a fast food burger, try making your own. A homemade burger is generally much healthier than the food they serve in fast food restaurants. Electric grills that are slanted to allow most of the fat to slide off make nice, lean burgers.
Save some calories for potassium and protein for after you work out, this will help reduce soreness. A banana and an egg does the trick.
Do not forget to stretch. Stretching can help increase your strength and flexibility.
Cut down on your sodium. Many prepared foods have as much as 30% of your daily value. You get your daily requirement of sodium from a healthy diet; too much can cause you to retain water weight.
Try not to skip any meals as this only makes your body to retain fats for energy. A good weight loss plan is to eat healthily and exercise regularly.
To continue to lose weight fast[3] - eat a variety of foods. Just like in weight training, the body will get used to the same routine and plateau. Mix up the foods you eat to keep your metabolism high and prevent a metabolism plateau.
Your breathing can also help increase your metabolic rate, and in turn enable you to burn calories more efficiently.
You can reduce your caloric intake by eating slowly; your brain needs about 20 minutes to get the signal that you are not hungry anymore, if you eat fast your stomach can get bloated and you will still feel hungry, the extra calories will be accumulated as fat. Eating slowly gets you satisfied with less food without feeling hungry or deprived.
You can actually lose weight by eating slowly. Because eating slowly gives your the hypothalamus in your brain to register that you are satisfied and that will allow you to stop before you overeat; it takes your brain about 20 minutes to get the signal that you are satisfied. This is why doctors recommend that you eat several small meals while keeping the same daily calorie/carbohydrate limits. The healthy goal is to be satisfied, not full. If you've satisfied your biological needs, but you're not full, then you've probably over indulged in the past to the extent that your stomach is expanded too much. Eat until you are satisfied, and no more, and your stomach will shrink back to its normal size.

Warnings

Always consult a doctor before changing your dietetic routine. Also, make regular appointments with a registered nutritionist.
Do not try to starve yourself. In the short run, reducing your calorie intake to unhealthily low levels will slow metabolism and actually cause you to lose weight more slowly. Then your body cannot process potassium so when you DO eat again, (the alternative to dying,) you will gain much more weight than you would if you weren't starving yourself and overall, you may end up gaining more than you lost. In the long run, starving yourself (anorexia or bulimia) can kill you. It's better to eat moderate amounts of healthy food than it is to not eat at all.
Muscle mass weighs more than fat, so don't be surprised if you gain weight but look slimmer.[4]
When starting a weight lifting routine, do not focus on a single muscle or group, doing so will overbuild that muscle while under building others - in other words, if you work your biceps, and not your triceps, your arms will begin to curl inward and you will look silly. If you work your chest and not your back, you will have a hard time maintaining good posture as your pectoral muscles overpower your back muscles and pull your shoulders forward.
A balanced workout also strengthens all the joints and smaller tie-in muscles, those most likely to become injured if bigger muscles over power the smaller ones. Have a personal trainer or a fitness facility provide a balanced workout and stretching routine.
If you have a serious medical condition (such as asthma or diabetes, or allergy to protein such as dairy products or you have lactose intolerance) or you are severely obese, consult with your doctor as well as a dietitian.
Do not take any harmful drugs. They are unhealthy and may ultimately make you gain weight instead.
Carefully consider whether you need dietary supplements. Most people may get the basic minerals and nutrients they need to sustain life through eating food. For example, excessive multivitamin supplements can make you overdose in some vitamins you need, and you can't store most water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C as any excess will be urinated. Although you could be below the recommended daily intake, that doesn't necessarily mean you are deficient in it if it's a kind that is stored. So you may wish to consult with your doctor or dietitian to inquire whether you need supplements and how much you should take.
Losing weight too quickly is dangerous and can have adverse effects on your health. Despite the title of this article, getting into shape is best done slowly. If you find yourself losing more than 2 pounds, or more than 500g, each week, you are probably doing something wrong.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

↑ http://www.acaloriecounter.com/calorie-counting.php

↑ Agriculture Fact Book 98: Chapter 1-A, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1998

↑ Lose Weight Fast from 101diettips.com

↑ http://www.truestarhealth.com/members/cm_archives11ML3P1A23.html

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Lose Weight Fast. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.