How to Lose Weight & Get Fabulous Abs – Top 5 Things You Must Know

By Marianne Van Weezep

Have you ever wondered, with the amount of diet and weight loss programs, infomercials, books and videos flooding the market place today what it really takes to get fabulous abs? Do you not wonder if all of those things really worked why we are still struggling with obesity? Well, if you are ready to try again, here are some things that can help to make it easier to understand.

To start you can make some minor changes by getting familiar with your BMI and your daily calorie intake requirements. You need to know how many calories your body needs to sustain itself while on your program because getting to great abs requires both fat loss and muscle toning. This will also give you a chance to mentally prepare yourself for upcoming changes.

The easiest formula to remember is 3500 calories = 1 lb. You have to lose 3500 calories off your current daily intake to lose 1 pound of fat. It does not matter if its protein, carbs, or fat – the body does not discriminate. If you eat above your daily intake of calories – you will gain weight. If you eat less than this, you will lose weight. Do not let anyone tell you different.

Next, you have to figure out how many calories you need to consume in a day. Take your weight and simply add a zero. If your weight is 150 pounds, your calorie intake should be around 1500 per day to sustain your current weight. If you do higher energy activity’s you should increase this by 300 calories.

Knowing you can only intake 1500 calories per day without gaining weight (and trust me that is not a lot of food) it is easy to see why we are having such a difficult time with obesity. One meal from any of the major fast food outlets can easily total more than this amount and that is just for one meal! So you can see why it is so important to measure and monitor everything you intake when deciding to lose weight and develop your abs.

The five most important things you should know:

1. If you are determined to lose your belly fat and get those great six pack abs, be aware of the health foods which are cleverly disguised as junk foods that will actually stimulate you to gain more belly fat. Stick to the natural foods of fruits, vegetables and plenty of water to flush your system. You can eat lots of it, the body finds it easy to digest, and the fiber is great for cleaning the bowel.

2. Ab Exercises like crunches, sit-ups, and Ab Machines were the least effective means for getting flat abs. You do need to do crunches, sit-ups, side stretches, push-ups and weight toning exercises but alone it does not eliminate the fat on the top of the belly. You will require at least three weekly aerobic exercises to shrink this fat.

3. Similarly cardio exercise routines alone by themselves only aids in shrinking fat cells. It aids in weight loss and building muscle strength but does not tightly tone abs. A combination of three aerobic workouts a week alternating with three 40-minute weight/body sculpting workouts three times a week and one day rest produces 10x’s the results.

4. You do not need to invest in any of the fat burner pills or other supplements. Instead, you need to know about natural foods and the power of the natural foods in relation to your body. Take care when eating pre-packaged food as it is loaded with sodium. Also, an absolute no-no, eliminate alcohol when working towards developing fabulous abs!

5. Ab belts, ab-rockers, ab-loungers and other infomercial ab-gimmicks are – gimmicks. (Nope –the models are not real!). Great abs are sculpted with aerobic, ab and sculpting workouts done in 35 minute sessions coupled with real nutrition strategies. Remember if it sounds too good to be true it generally is. Hard work is the true answer.

Did you know it takes 35 minutes of continued exercise before we start melting away the fat in our bodies? This is important for when you reach the 35 minute threshold in your exercise routine you can start to put concentrated effort in your ab crunches. This is the time when you are getting the maximum return from your workout.

You will find with every inch and pound you lose you will become more motivated to challenge yourself to continue. Drink lots of water and water based foods to flush your system. You must consume at least 6 to 8 cups of water per day. Do not drink more as this will actually over tax your body! This is very important to remember.

I recently took the six pack abs challenge and it took a disciplined, regimented program, proper nutrition, a colon cleanse, calorie counting, proper ab exercises, daily vigilance and major persistence on my part! Day to day focus on my goal - no kidding – losing weight and getting 6 pack abs is HARD WORK but also THE MOST REWARDING experience I have had in a while! I have managed to lose 12 lbs and 11” in 10 workouts. Keep in mind my results are based on serious tracking of my nutrition and exercise routines. What it proved to me – even at age 45 -is it CAN be done!

When you are ready and you feel you need a coach I found www.beachbody.com had a fantastic program with great support. Their entire exercise video program is aerobic focused ab training. For tracking of weight, calories and nutrition the software program from www.fitday.com is also incredible.

Remember; never ever, ever ever ever, give up! Keep trying. If you fail, forget, do not have the energy, can’t be bothered, mood change, swing whatever simply try again tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then try again tomorrow. You will arrive at your goal for all is just a matter of time! The more you attempt the closer you come.

More importantly do it for you. Forget what others think or say. One life, your life, to live as you see fit. Live it well!

Good Luck and God Bless.

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