We live in a world of junk food. For a normal person, it is very difficult to go about a day without coming across some junk food and most of the time; many of us find a reason to justify eating these food items.

When it comes to losing fat; even what appears to be a harmless food item like a scoop of ice cream can make a huge difference. And more importantly, if you succumb to one temptation, you will most likely succumb to other temptations which you will definitely encounter in your daily life.

Discipline is very important if you want to achieve your fat loss goals. That is why it is imperative that you stay away from all the food that you know will lead to fat gain.

In general, the food items that turn to fat have a few things in common –

• They are high in calories
• They have are dense in calories
• They contain unhealthy saturated and trans fats
• They contain high amount of sugar
• They don’t have any good nutritional value
• They contain chemicals
• They contain artificial flavors or colors

A few example of such food items are

• Ice Cream
• Fried Foods
• Donuts and Pastries
• Candy, Chocolate, Sweets and White Sugar
• Soda
• Sugar Sweetened Beverages like Fruit Drinks
• Bacon or Sausages
• White Bread
• Corn Chips, Potato Chips, Nachos
• Hot Dogs And Fast Food Burger Joints
• Cookies, Cakes And Pies
• Sugary Breakfast Cereals

These are just a small list and there are probably a lot more food items that lead to fat gain. But keeping the factors in mind of the food that turn to fat, you can generally make a good decision whether or not you should eat something. Remember, if you succumb to just one “fatty food”, then you are more likely to succumb to many more.

Losing weight is not easy. If it was, then everyone would have been thin and skinny. But they are not. Losing weight requires dedication, perseverance, knowledge of correct techniques and self control.

We all know the basics of losing weight are dieting and correct exercise. But is there more to it, then just eating the right food and going to the gym? There sure is, during the journey of weight loss, everyone comes across a lot of hurdles, and a lot of temptations that will deviate them from the right path.

This isn’t any different from achieving any other goals in life. But unlike other areas of life, people easily lose their motivation when following a weight loss program because no one is stopping them from throwing in the towel, grab that piece of chocolate cake and eat on the couch while watching America’s Got Talent.

When it comes to weight loss, it usually isn’t a matter of life and death, if you fail, you won’t be homeless. Failure in weight loss would just lead to being fat. And it really doesn’t matter that much because you have been fat your entire life.

I would go on to say that most of the people fail before even starting. It’s because in their mind they don’t do it with a final goal in their mind. Most of the time, people don’t really set a goal for themselves when they start a diet or a gym. And without a goal, you would just be chasing a wild goose.

Goal setting is probably the most important aspect of losing weight. If only you would set yourself a realistic goal before starting a program and measure your progress every week, you would be far off better than 90% of the people.

But setting a goal in your mind isn’t enough. You have to write it down. This is one of the biggest mistake people do when goal setting. They just set the goal in their brains and carry on. But in reality, your brain will manipulate things according to the conditions. When it is on paper, it cannot be changed and will remind you that you have to reach that goal no matter what.

Let’s face it. Getting rid of belly fat isn’t easy. If it was easy, everyone will be walking around shirtless showing off their sexy abs. If it was easy, hospitals wouldn’t be flooded with heart patients and obese people. If it was easy, there would be no such thing as liposuction.

The truth is, almost every person at one point or another has tried dieting and working out to get rid of their belly fat. Everyone has tried to change their lifestyle completely by not eating any unhealthy food. But most of the time, they give up before they even see any noticeable results.

The only way to succeed in your fat loss journey is to have the right mindset from the starting. Plan your journey and make sure you stick to it. People just start following a diet without actually setting goals for themselves and when they don’t see much result after a few weeks, they give up. IT WILL TAKE TIME. And if you think that there is a magic pill that will just make the fat disappear then you are living in a fantasy.  The journey will be hard and if you don’t want it bad enough, you probably will quit before you reach your goal.

Here are 3 tips of things that you should do before starting your fat loss journey to make sure you make it all the way through.

1. Make a firm decision and put it up: Define your goal. Just thinking in your mind that I want to get rid of belly fat won’t do. WRITE IT DOWN. Write it down on a piece of paper and stick it to your wall. Then make a list of reasons why you want to get rid of the belly fat and put it up on the wall. This step is extremely important because during your fat loss program, you will sub consciously think that this is not necessary and you will want to go back to your old unhealthy lifestyle. If you have the reasons and your goal right in front of your eyes to constantly remind you what you want and why you want it, you won’t let those sub conscious thoughts make you quit.

2. Set Goals: This is the biggest mistakes that people do. Goal setting is an art and to achieve your goals you need to learn this art. You’ve already set your main goal. But that isn’t enough. It may say something like; I want to lose 50 lbs. That is a big goal and unless you break it down, you will be really disappointed with your journey. Write down goals for each week, and check your progress. Each small goal should have a time limit. For example, you can put 1-2 pound fat loss every week. But don’t just think it in your mind, mark it on the calendar. Write down what should be your weight after each week. And if you aren’t able to reach your goal for a week, then the next week you need to work extra hard to reach your set weight.

3. Monitor your days: Make a journal. Having a fat loss journal where you write your experience your setbacks and how you got over those setbacks is a great way to keep you motivated. Writing everything down keeps a track of how far you’ve come. When you feel de discouraged, you refer back to your journal and see how brave you’ve been and how much you’ve accomplished. It will also make you realize that it will be stupid to throw in the towel after coming so far.

These 3 techniques are extremely effective not only with fat loss but also with anything you want to achieve in your life. Whatever goals you set for yourself, you can achieve them with the right mindset and proper planning.

Why are compound exercises better than isolated exercises for getting rid of belly fat? Simply put, because they increase your metabolism.

Let’s define what compound exercises are and what isolated exercises are. Compound exercises are the exercises which involve the major muscle groups in your body and usually workout two or three muscle groups. For example, the king of exercises – Squats, works out your thighs, your calves, your core and your chest; Bench Press works out your chest, your triceps and your core.

On the other hand isolated exercises only work out a single muscle group and have very little effect on any other muscle groups. For example, triceps extension only works out your triceps and do not target any other muscle fiber. Most of the abdominal exercises only target your abs and no other part of the body.

There are many reasons why compound exercises are considered better than isolated exercise. But since we are talking about getting rid of belly fat, the main reason will be because they will skyrocket your metabolism enabling you to burn fat even when you are not working out. The reason why they are so effective in increasing your metabolism is because the body uses a lot of muscle fibers and a lot of energy while performing these exercises. If you have been to a gym, have you noticed the difference in the amount of work required to perform Squats and triceps extension.

Isolated exercises won’t give you the biggest bang for your buck. We only have a limited time and we can only work out for one hour at max. You want to make the most of that one hour. Exercising for more than one hour isn’t recommended because there is the danger of overtraining. To make the most of that one hour, you should include as many compound exercises in your routine as you can.

Working on abdominal muscles isn’t necessary to get rid of belly fat. But it will help you develop abs which is something that everyone wants.

Most people start working on their abs in hopes that they will start losing fat in their belly. But in reality working out abs has almost nothing to do with your fat. The only way to get rid of the belly fat is creating a calorie deficit which I explained in another post.

Regardless, abs exercises are good for your abdominals and you should do them.

The most important thing to keep in mind during abs workout is that your back should be rounded all the time. If you back is arched, you risk back injury.

1. Hanging Leg Raises: Hang from a pull up bar and pull your legs upwards until they are almost touching the bar. Keep your knees folded just a little bit, this exercise will be impossible to do with your legs straight. It is important to keep your back rounded (not arched) all the time. One of the easier variations of this exercise is Hanging Knee Raises. In this you can bend your knees fully and bring your knees all the way up to your chest.

2. Lying Leg Thrust: Lie down on your back and lift your head and shoulders up to bring your back up to make your back rounded. This exercise can put a lot of strain on your back if your back is arched which it will be if you don’t pull your head and shoulders up. Now lift your legs all the way up until they make 90° from the ground. Then slowly bring them down until they make 45° to the ground. From that position go back up till 90° and so on so forth.

3. Decline Board Leg Thrust: This exercise is the same as lying leg thrust except you do it on a decline bench. Your head should be at the higher end of the bench and your legs towards the lower end of the bench.

4. Abdominal Cycles: Lay down on the ground. Lift your shoulders slightly up and put your hands behind the back of your head. Lift both your legs up slightly. Now start by touching your left elbow with your right knee followed by touching your right elbow with your left knee. Make it a fast motion and do as many repetitions as you can.

5. Bench Crunches: Take a bench and put your calves on it so that your calves and thighs are making an angle of 90°. Start doing normal pushup.

6. Weighted Cable Rows: You will need cable machine for this. Put the cable machine in the high rope attachment. Grab the cable and get on your knees. Make sure that the cable is coming at an angle towards you. Keep your hands at the top of your head and curl your body inside putting the pressure on those upper abs. Make sure you are not moving your hands up and down. The position of your hands and elbows should remain constant in relation to your head.

These abs exercises are all you need to develop your abdominals. It shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to finish all of them. To get the most out of these exercises you should do them after your workout. But on days when you feel that you will be really exhausted after a workout (for example, when you have legs) you can do them before a workout as well. Remember, your abdominals are muscles just like the rest of your body and to develop them you need to treat them like muscles.

One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to dieting is that eating fat will make you fat. But it is just not true. It is not the fat that we eat that’s deposited in our body as fat. In reality, it is the excess calories that we eat that are deposited as fat in our body.

When you eat fat, it is digested and the energy and the important nutrients that are present in the fat are released in your body and if you eat the right type of fat, then these nutrients will help your body function better and in turn will help you get rid of the belly fat.

Even though fat contains more calories per gram (9 calories per gram) than protein and carbohydrate, it is imperative that you include it in your diet because without the right type of fat, you are missing a lot of important nutrients that are necessary for the proper functioning of your liver, pancreas, your heart etc. which is necessary for fat loss.

“The essential Fatty acids” which are the Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids cannot be produced by the body and hence it depends on food to provide these important nutrients. But unfortunately, the western diet contains mostly of Omega 6 fatty acids leaving a deficiency of Omega 3 fatty acid in our body.

The market is filled with processed trans fat edible oils which claim to be healthy. But the fact is that the polysaturated and monosaturated fat (together known as trans fat) are extremely unstable and when processed they become toxic and very unhealthy to eat. Cholesterol is actually a healing substance produced by the body which is deposited in the arteries which are damaged from these toxins. This is the reason why the heart diseases were practically non-existent before the mid 20^th century these processed edible oils were introduced in the market. The connection is remarkably noticeable.

Another hyped up misconception about fats is that saturated fats are bad for your health. But it is quite the opposite. Saturated fats are much more stable than the trans fat and thus are a better choice for cooking. Saturated fats like coconut oil, palm oil or butter because they are not reactive to heat and do not produce toxins at higher temperatures. And saturated fat contains lauric acid which is important for your body’s functioning.

So, the best way to include fat in your diet is to include all types of healthy fat in your meals. Eat a variety of fats and make sure you have fat in each one of your meal.

The easiest way to find out if the fat is healthy or not, is to see if it’s natural. If it is unprocessed and completely natural, then you are safe. Some of the examples of healthy polysaturated and monosaturated fat are walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, peacans, almonds, cashews, flax seeds, avocados, natural peanut butter, fish and fish oil. Healthy saturated fat can be found in unprocessed coconut oil and butter.

So make sure you are eating the right amount of fat and are eating a balanced diet. With the right type of fat and a proper diet, you will be able to turn your body in the fat burning machine that it is and before you know it, that belly fat will disappear like Malcolm McDowell disappeared after A Clockwork Orange.

If you have been researching about fat loss and dieting, then I am sure you’ve come across a term called “Starvation Mode”. Today, I will explain what starvation mode is and how you can keep your body from going into starvation mode and burning muscles instead of fat.

Starvation mode is a defense mechanism in your body. It is simply a state when your body thinks that there is a lack of food and you are starving and it tries to protect you by preserving as much as energy as it can so that you can survive longer without the food. This happens usually when you are dieting and are eating a lot less in an attempt to get rid of your belly fat.

So, how does the body preserve energy in starvation mode?

It does so, by NOT burning the fat. This is because the fat is your energy storage. It is true that body stores the fat to be used when it runs out of energy. But when it thinks that there is a lack of food, it assumes that you won’t get food for a long time. So, it stops burning the fat, because Fat stores more energy per lbs than muscles. So in an attempt to preserve more energy, it starts burning the muscles instead. It is a defense mechanism to preserve as much energy as it can.

So basically, when you go into the starvation mode, your body starts burning your hard earned muscles and starts preserving the fat. This is exactly the opposite of what you want, Isn’t it?

So, how do you prevent this from happening?

It’s simple, you trick your body into thinking that there is ample amount of food available and there is no shortage. You just keep on eating frequently.

Wait, What?

I know it sounds counterintuitive when someone asks you to eat more to lose fat. But I am not asking you to eat more. You just need to plan your meals carefully and spread them throughout your day. It is recommended to have at least 5 meals every day, each at an interval of 3-4 hours. Each of your meal should be sufficient to make your stomach filled for the next 3-4 hours. If you start feeling hungry, you can have a light snack any time during the day.

One important thing to keep your body from going into starvation mode is to eat a good meal as soon as you wake up. Many of us skip breakfast trying to make it at work on time. But if you think about, you’ve been sleeping for around 8 hours and if you don’t have breakfast and directly have lunch say 4 hours later, then you haven’t eaten anything for almost 12 hours. I can guarantee you that your body went into starvation mode somewhere between that and has burnt some of your muscles since then. So make sure you eat something as soon as you get up.

For someone reason, the same old myths about fat burning perpetuate till now. I find it sad at the same time that people actually keep doing the same boring cardio and abdominal exercises in the hopes of fat burning. What’s even sadder is that when these people don’t see any results they think that they are not doing enough and they start doing cardio for longer periods of time and more abdominal exercises. In the end when they are exhausted and have lost all motivation, they quit thinking that they were doomed to be fat and there is nothing they can do about it.

The old adage “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” holds true in this case. If you are not getting results with this, then doing more of it will certainly get you nowhere. And if your gym instructor tells you that you need to do more cardio, then it’s about time you stop listening to them because they clearly don’t know anything about fat burning.

MYTH: Doing Abs Exercises Will Get Rid OF Belly Fat

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about losing your belly fat? Sit ups, Right. Somehow, the old myth that you need to do abdominal exercise to burn belly fat has continued till today and most people just fall into it.

FACT: Working out abdominal muscles will not burn fat. It will only help developing your abdominal muscles which will still be covered with fat.

MYTH: Doing Cardio is the fastest way to burn fat

Although you do burn fat while doing cardio, it is certainly not the fastest or best way to burn fat. When you are in the so called “Fat Burning Zone” your body can burn fat. But the amount of fat you burn during this fat burning zone is really really low. This is because the amount of calories that you burn on the treadmill isn’t coming from the fat in your body. It is in fact coming from the food that is burnt. And if you do cardio for a very long time, your body starts burning muscles to provide you with the energy.

And when you are done with your cardio session, your body goes back to its normal state of fat storage. In short, with cardio, you do lose some amount of fat, but you are also losing a lot of muscles.

FACT: Long Boring Cardio makes you lose more muscles than fat and in the long run isn’t an effective way to lose fat.

MYTH: Eating less will make you lose fat

Although it is true that eating fewer calories will make you burn the fat. It is not true in all the cases. People sometimes misinterpret this and go on crash diets. Crash diets usually will make you lose WEIGHT, but not fat. This is because when you are not eating enough; your body goes into “Starvation Mode” and starts burning muscles instead of fat, in an attempt to save as much energy as it can. Your body starts thinking that there is a lack of food and it has to take this action to make sure you survive as long as you can during this period of food shortage.

Instead of eating less, one should concentrate on eating right. If you eat very less and eat unhealthy, you are more likely to gain belly fat rather than lose it. In addition, you will lose your muscles which will just make you look worse. On the other hand, if you eat right, you can eat more and still lose fat because you are promoting healthy functioning of your body.

FACT: Eating right will make you lose fat. Eating less is optional.

Quite contrary to the common belief, working out your abs isn’t the best way to get rid of the belly fat. Abs exercises are only good for developing your abs. The fat can only be gotten rid of by creating a calorie deficit in the body, which can only be achieved by dieting and increasing your metabolism.

One of the best ways to increase your metabolism is by doing some compound lifting exercises. These exercises workout many muscles at the same time, thus giving your body the most intense workout in the shortest amount of time possible.

Exercises which isolate the muscles aren’t very good for getting rid of the body fat because they only work a small muscle at a time. In addition, these isolation exercises require less energy to perform. So, to sum it up, compound exercises help increase your body’s metabolism even after you workout and hence are great for getting rid of fat and gain some muscles, while isolation exercises are better if you are looking to just gain muscles.

Examples of compound exercises are squats, deadlifts, chest press, pushups, chin ups, lat pull downs, inclined chest press, barbell curling, rowing etc.

Examples of isolation exercises are dumbbell curling, triceps pull down, triceps extension, calf raises etc.

I will now explain some my favorite compound exercises that are extremely effective in increasing your metabolism and in getting rid of your belly fat.

1. Squats

aka “The King Of all Exercises” is hands down the best exercise to boost up your metabolism. Squats work out your hams, quadriceps, your calves, your core, and your chest. This exercise is extremely effective and there is simply no substitution for this.

If you are avoiding squats, then you are missing out one of the best exercise in the world. I know it may look a little hard in the starting and you may not feel like doing it. But I guarantee you that if you do this exercise for one or two months, it will become one of your favorite exercises.

You may even try some variations of the squat such as the front squats, overhead squats or the dreaded one legged squat.

2. Dead lift

There is something about lifting heavy weights from the ground that men like. It just proves how much weight you can lift. Dead lift is probably the most favorite exercise amongst heavy body builders and for good reason. The dead lift is one of the best exercises which work out your back, your hams, your hips, and glutes.

It is quite simple to do, and all you have to do is lift a heavy bar from the ground.

Ladies, don’t be afraid of the dead lift. It will work wonders for your thighs and make it look oh so very sexy. Just because bodybuilders like it doesn’t mean it will make you big and bulky. On the contrary, it will help get rid of that thigh fat and tone your thighs. Dead lift can also be performed with dumbbells to make it more comfortable for ladies.

3. Chest Press

Chest Press is the exercise that comes to the mind when people think of gyms. It is a great exercise to work out your chest, triceps and core.

4. Lunges

Lunges requires great stabilization and strength. They look easy to perform, but once you start doing it, you will realize this is one of the toughest exercise ever made. I have a love hate relationship with lunges. I hate them because they are so hard, but since they show great results I have to love them. Regardless of whether you love or hate lunges, you should definitely include them in your workout because without lunges the workout just isn’t the same.

5. Barbell Clean & Push Press

This is my favorite exercise because it works out your entire body from your calves to your shoulders. It’s like a mixture of the dead lift and shoulder press. You do it all in one go just like shown in the video below.

Surprisingly, this exercise isn’t as popular and you will hardly see someone in the gym doing this. But nevertheless, this is one of the most effective exercises to increase your metabolism.

Don’t believe me? Perform 3 sets of this exercise with 10 repetitions each with a weight you are comfortable with. You won’t be able to catch your breath after this because it will be running wild like a rabbit chased by hounds.

There are a lot of other exercises that you can do to increase your metabolism. The five exercises I have listed in this article are just my favorites and are some of the most effective exercises that I have come across in my life.

But remember, you won’t lose any fat if you are not eating right. So, unless you are dieting properly, do not expect to get rid of that belly fat.

To lose your belly fat as fast as you can, you need a system which tells you exactly what exercises to do and exactly what type of diet to follow. I came across one such system back in 2008 and it has changed the way I look at exercising and dieting. The Truth About Abs is truly a revolutionary system in the world of “ABS” and you owe it to yourself to at least check out their video on the home page.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE TRUTH ABOUT ABS

As we all know, the only way to get rid of that stubborn belly fat is to create a calorie deficit in your body. But to create a calorie deficit, you should first find out how much calorie does your body consume in a day. This is known as RMR, i.e. Resting Metabolic Rate. This means that your body will at least burn this much calories every day no matter what.

Once you have calculated the RMR, you need to decide how much calorie deficit you want to create and then adjust your diet accordingly. If you want to lose 1 lb of fat per week, then considering that 1 lb of fat is equal to 3500 calories, you will have to create a calorie deficit of 500 calories every day. So in 7 days, you would have created 500x 7 = 3500 calorie deficit in your body, thus resulting in 1 lb fat loss.

Experts recommend a maximum of 2-3 lb fat loss every week. This is because if you go faster than that, you risk losing your muscles instead of fat and nobody wants that. Besides, if you lose muscles your RMR goes down thus making it even harder for you to lose fat. In addition, creating a 1000 calorie deficit everyday will require some extreme dieting which will leave you feeling hungry and frustrated all the time. And when your body is feeling hungry, it goes into “starvation mode” where it starts saving the fat in an attempt to save more energy and starts burning muscles instead.

So how do you create your RMR?

RMR can be created by a simple formula.

For men: RMR = 66 + (12.7 x height) + (6.27 x weight) – (6.8 x age)

For women: RMR = 655 + (4.57 x height) + (4.36 x weight) – (4.7 x age)

RMR is in calories (kcal)/day

Height is in inches

Weight is in pounds

Age is in years

Example: A 190-lb male, 6’0” tall, 28 yrs old, very active

Daily caloric requirements for weight maintenance =

1.5 x (66 + (12.7 x 72) + (6.27 x 190) – (6.8 x 28)) = 2972 calories/day

Once you know your RMR, you will realize how much you need to eat to maintain weight and how much to get rid of your fat.

RMR is just an approximate figure and you should not obsess with calories when eating food. But you should have an approximate idea of how much calories you are eating in each meal so you know you are not over eating.

If you are interested in getting rid of the belly fat (who isn’t?) then it is recommended that you have at least 4-5 short meals ever day. And with short meals I don’t mean breakfast, lunch, dinner and two times snacks. I mean that each meal should contain all the necessary nutrients namely protein, carbohydrates, fat, minerals, vitamins, and water in the right proportion.

So the best way to make sure you don’t over eat and have frequent meals is to plan your meals in advance and divide the amount of calories you want to eat in a day by 5. And now you know how much calories your meals should have.

Again, I want to say it is not necessary to obsess over calories to get rid of the belly fat. All you need is an approximate idea of how much you are eating. What you eat is much more important than how much you eat when it comes to losing fat. So make sure you are eating healthy and nutritious food while staying away from processed and unhealthy food.