Inline Skating

Exercising outdoors is a refreshing and invigorating way to get fit. Some researchers have found that taking regular outdoor exercise provides health advantages over exercising in the gym or fitness classes. During the winter when the days are shorter this is especially true as often people do not see daylight for days at a time.

If you live in the countryside then you will have a lot of options available to you, such as running along public footpaths and bridleways or cycling the country lanes. For everyone else in the cities or suburban towns a trip to the park can provide some great ways to get some exercise in.

Running in the Park

Jogging and running is a very effective way to get fit and also to lose some weight. Ideally you should run on grass to reduce impact on your joints. However, with good running shoes and a quality asphalt surface running on the pavements it not going to cause you any problems. When running in the park it is a good idea to find a circular route and time how long it takes to do one lap. Then you can work on running faster or performing more laps. This makes it much easier to work on your fitness and keep pushing yourself harder. Runners World provide lists of clubs and events around the UK.

Cycling around the park

Some larger parks offer pavements and tracks for cycling. If your park provides this then why not buy yourself a bike? Cycling is a lower impact form of exercise and still very effective. However, the park does need to be large to get the most from this. But in large towns it will still be better than cycling on the streets. Just be careful of the other park users. For more on cycling in the UK take a look at British Cycling where you can find details of events and cycling clubs in your area.

Inline Skating

If you park is equipped with a well maintained and level path then in-line skating is a fun way to exercise. Many parks in London are filled with skaters in the summer months. Skating is a low impact (if you do not fall over!) form of exercise that really works the legs and thighs. All you need is a pair of inline skates and you are off. If you would prefer to start with some organised classes and outings then head over to the United Kingdom Inline Skating Association where you can find a list of clubs and societies that offer training and weekly “skate outs”. For Londoners CitiSkate offers many classes and events.

Circuit Training Exercises

If you can get to the park at a time when there are no children around, generally early in the morning or as it is getting dark, you can use the climbing frames to help you perform some circuit training exercises. Pull ups, dips and push ups can be performed on most climbing frames and if there are some monkey bars using these will really help to strengthen your torso and burn some calories. If you are in any doubt about how to perform these exercises ask a personal trainer, or better still, see if there are any outdoor boot camp classes running nearby. To find a personal trainer always use the National Register of Personal Trainers to ensure that you are hiring a fully trained and qualified instructor.

Kayaking

Many towns have canals and rivers running through them, and sometimes you can find kayaking clubs or rowing clubs that organise regular classes on the river. This can make a real change from the usual form of exercise and they often have a really good social scene. The Canoe England organisation keeps a database of clubs so if there is something nearby you should be able to find it there.

Overall, exercising in the park is a refreshing and enjoyable way to get fit. If you exercise with others you will also have more fun. Circuit training with boot-camp class, cycling or skating with your family or jogging with the local running clubs, all will brighten your day and make you healthier.

Reference

“A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments” by
Diana E Bowler, Lisette M Buyung-Ali, Teri M Knight and Andrew S Pullin. BMC Public Health 2010, 10:456 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-456.

If you’re new to dieting or, perhaps you’ve lost weight in the past and have now gained it back, your first step is to look in the mirror. Literally, when you look in the mirror you may not like what you see. Take an honest inventory of your current habits asking questions like:

1. Do I exercise? If so, how regularly?
2. What foods am I eating? Processed foods and foods high in fat and sugar, or natural foods?
3. How often am I eating? 3 meals a day? More? Less?
4. Do I eat even when I’m not hungry? Am I an emotional eater?
5. Do I consume most of my calories at night? Remember, calories are also found in beverages.

Your eating habits and your physical activity level (or lack thereof) will likely give you a good starting point as far as what needs to change.

On the surface, losing weight is simple. Basically, you need to consume fewer calories than your body burns. Your body uses calories from food for energy. Every metabolic process in your body requires energy. Some foods have more calories than others and foods that are high in fat and sugar are also usually high in calories. If you take in more calories than you burn off, your body will store those extra calories as fat.

It is easiest for your body to burn carbohydrates for energy. If your diet contains foods lower in carbohydrates (low glycemic index foods), your body will begin to burn stored fat for energy, a process called ketosis. You can build on these principles as you teach yourself how to eat properly, whether you’re at home or dining out.

• When eating starches, go for the whole grains instead of refined and processed foods.
• When selecting proteins, choose lean cuts that are lower in saturated fat.
• As for fruits, choose berries and citrus and avoid canned fruits and fruit juices, which are higher in sugar.
• Green vegetables are a good bet. You can’t go wrong with salad greens and spinach (just don’t overdo it with the dressing!).
• When selecting fats, choose healthy oils like olive and canola oils instead of hydrogenated oils and butter.
• Water is also essential to any healthy diet as it provides proper functioning of organs and removes wastes and toxins from your body. Drink twice the amount of water you think you need and then double that – seriously!

There is nothing magic about nutrition and while claims of miracle drugs and miracle diets come and go they are usually unsustainable and/or dangerous long term. You need to find a diet that works for you and stick with it and make sure your diet includes a wide variety of foods that you enjoy. If you limit yourself, you’re less likely to stick with it. Eat foods that you’re going to be able to eat for the rest of your life. Remember, a good diet requires a long term commitment. People who lose weight and tend to keep it off generally eat a low fat, high fiber diet. Foods with higher fiber content also help you feel full, so you’re less likely to overeat.

Exercise is usually recommended to those who are physically able. If you cut back on calories, you can still lose weight without doing a lot of exercise. However, you do need to exercise if you plan to keep the weight off. Exercise is a necessary part of improving metabolism and maintaining weight loss.

Exercise is also a good outlet for stress. After all, you’re better off hitting a treadmill at the end of a bad day than grabbing a gallon of ice cream. So called, emotional eating, which is eating to satisfy your feelings instead of your hunger, can wreak havoc on your diet plan and your waistline. We all feed our emotions sometimes, but problems arise when a person uses eating as the only way to manage his or her feelings. You’re more likely to overeat if you’re eating for reasons other than hunger and you’re also likely giving your body calories it doesn’t need.

When doing your self-assessment, if you find that you are guilty of emotional eating, there are ways to manage it. Look for healthy alternatives for comfort foods. Or, if you must indulge, do so in moderation by eating smaller portions. You can also choose another activity to keep your mind off the craving. Try exercising, calling a friend, or even exercising with a friend. The key is to recognize the triggers and arm yourself with healthy options so when those emotional cravings come calling, you’re ready and able to stay on track.

Nathan Joynt works with a leading health and wellness media company streaming on-demand health videos and weight loss videos online.

Many women are put off weight training because it has a very masculine image, and women fear that they will bulk up. However, unless supplements and steroids are taken, women will not bulk up when weight training. Weight training will help to reduce stomach fat, and tone the buttock and thigh muscles much more than just cardio exercise alone.

Weight training routines are generally broken down into repetitions (often shortened to reps) and sets. A set describes one exercise done repeatedly for a specific number of repetitions (or until muscular failure) and repetitions are simply the number of times the weight is lifted through its full movement.

The video below provides a great introduction to weight training. Here are the exercises that are covered:

• Squats – the basic leg, thigh and butt workout. Squats are the most important weight training exercise as they work the largest muscles of the body – the glutes. These are the muscles that form the buttocks.
• Bench press – works the chest and arms. Many women are concerned that bench pressing will develop a manly looking chest, however, this is not the case. If anything toning the muscles in the upper chest will give you more support and lift in the areas that matter!
• Upright rows – works the shoulders. A great exercise. Go slow and keep good form. These are best done with dumbbells really to prevent risk on wrist injury.
• Bent over rows – work the back more and the arms slightly. When performing a bent over row focus on lifting with the back muscles and not pulling with the bicep.
• Twist crunches – best way to hit the abs. Perform crunches with your feet up on a bench and twist into the crunch.

Basic Weight Training Techniques for Women

This video is provided by www.getrealfit.org who provide workouts design to help women workout at home.

Weight training resources

If you liked the look of this workout then there are many website that offer more advanced training, here are a few of our favourites:

• ExRx (Exercise Prescription) on the Net - search by exercise or by muscle, comes with videos and instructions. Plus a nice community.
• Strength Training for Women | Mark’s Daily Apple – if you have not looked at Mark’s Daily Apple before do so. Great blog, helpful advice, well explained.
• Female Training Articles – Bodybuilding.com – Don’t be put off by the name of the photos of incredibly muscular men and women. This is an excellent resource for all things related to weight training. The community can get a little opinionated at times, but then it is one of the largest communities on the Internet so attracts a lot of strange people!
• Take a look at this one first: Train Like A Man – Look Like A Goddess! 

A Woman Stabilizing Hormones to Lose Weight!

If you want a really easy weight loss tip, then this is it: Go to bed and turn out the lights!

Research has shown that people who get at least 8 hours sleep a night lose more weight than those that get less than 6 hours of sleep, even if diet (in terms of both calories consumed and type of food eaten) is the same and exercise regime is the same.

In addition to this, recent research has also shown that there is a link between light and weight gain. In a study on mice it was found that sleeping with even just a dim light on resulted in increased appetite and increased weight gain.

So, if you are almost losing weight with your healthy diet and workouts, but not quite, or just hit a wall recently that you cannot seem to get past, then maybe the answer is to sleep on it, and sleep well.

The research was carried out by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, America. The research was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine which is a part of the National Institutes of Health (nih.gov), which is in turn a part of the US Department of Health and Human Sciences. So basically, this is a government backed piece of research which gives it some credit. The research was also published in the International Journal of Obesity.

6 Month Weight Loss Plan

In the study researchers analysed a activities and lifestyle factors from a group of people who were on an active weight loss plan. Although there is more research to be carried out initial findings found that irregular sleep and lack of sleep is a risk factor for the development of obesity.

One theory is that reduce sleep affects hormone levels which disrupt appetite suppression and metabolism. In addition to lack of sleep, spending more time in front of a computer screen or television also raises the risk of a person becoming obese, as does depression and stress. However, it is not so much that using a computer makes you fat, it is simply that people who use computers more tend to have less time for exercise.

So fat the research has examined 472 obese adults over a 6 month period which included a weight loss plan. All the adults studied we at least 30 years old and have a body mass index of 30-50. Anything over 40 is considered morbidly obese. A healthy weight is a BMI below 25 and above around 18. All the subjects in the study had their diet and exercise habits recorded every day for the 6 months. They all had to perform at least 180 minutes (3 hours) of exercise each week. There were also 22 group support sessions, almost one per week.

Over the 6 month plan average weight loss was 6.3 kg and 60% of subjects lost 4.5 kg (10 pounds). Not how there was a general success while on the plan – all those people who fail to lose weight fail simply because they do not stick to the plan. The weekly support groups are very helpful in keeping people motivated.

On average the subjects actually performed 195.1 minutes of exercise each week, more than the amount set by the plan.

The people who slept for less than 6 hours tended to lose less weight. When you think about this, this is not expected at all. We burn more energy while awake than when sleeping. Also, being awake provides more opportunities for activities such as exercise. However, the results are clear – if you lack sleep you are less likely to lose weight.

Chronic Stress?

Chronic stress is thought to be a major contributing factor. Stress affects hormonal levels and the effects of stress actually build up over time. This often leads to increase comfort eating and binge eating which can dramatically increase calorific intake.

Of course, this does not mean that if you get more sleep you will lose weight, it just means that a lack of sleep sets you up for weight gain or slower weight loss.

References:

• Elder CR, Gullion CM, Funk KL, et al. Impact of sleep, screen time, depression and stress on weight change in the intensive weight loss phase of the LIFE study. International Journal of Obesity 2011, March 29.

Reported by:

• Sleep patterns affect weight loss. BBC News, March 20 2011
• Sleep ‘affects weight loss’, NHS Choices, March 30 2011

Tone Up! Best Butt Exercises

I just came across this video on YouTube. It is called the “best butt exercises” (sorry, that’s bums to us Brits!) and does indeed provide a few pretty good workouts to tone bums (butts, buns, glutes etc).

• They start of with some side step ups on a park bench, then move onto Bosu squats, which are done on a Bosu balance board.
• Then there are some plank glute kickbacks, which also work the arms a little as you hold your weight as if in push up position.
• Walking lunges with a twist are done next, which really do result in a burn.
• Glute Hips Lifts come next which work the glutes, inner thighs and core muscles.
• Single leg squats come last, these are a real great thigh and glute exercise.

Watch all the exercises here:

High impact step aerobics workout – 8 minutes

This high impact workout provides an excellent quick exercise routine. Firstly, you need to do a gentle warm up for a few minutes before starting, as this is a high impact routine. It involves lots of jacks, cross country skis, double step touches, power low squats, and “scoop it forwards”, plus knee runs and speed skates.

After 8 minutes of this your heart will be thumping and your blood flowing. Remember, the goal of high impact aerobics is to really work the cardiovascular system to condition the body. This means that you will be sweating, panting and aching afterwards. No pain, no gain!

Cathe Friedrich’s Cardio Fusion:

Home Fitness With Dumbbells and Bodyweight Training

Here fitness instructor Zuzana from BodyRock.tv takes us through a dynamic dumbbell and bodyweight routine. This routine is fast an intensive and designed to burn fat and tone.

It starts with a combination move with dumbbells: bent over row followed by a power clean and press. This really gets the blood flowing and hits the major musles.

Next up are push ups with leg lifts. These work the chest and shoulders as well as the glutes and thighs.

Tone Your Bum with the Yoga for the Butt workout

This routine is derived from yoga, and is designed to help tone and firm the buttocks.

Classic yoga postures such as the warrior pose and downward dog, are utilized. It is quite an energetic and advanced yoga routine, so really for those more experienced with yoga. Tara Stiles does a very good job at explaining each movement throughout the routine. The stomach muscles are also used.

Here we share 3 of her short video workouts. Do not be fooled by the length of these workouts, they may be short but they are intensive. Also Zuzana has edited the videos down, so the actual workouts are a little longer than we see here.

Upi can perform one of these every day or put them all together for one longer workout to perform a few times a week. Remember, just doing these workouts alone will not get you a body like Zuzana. She does a lot of exercise, and that includes daily cardio routines to burn off all excess fat as well as intensive weight training routines.

Full Body Core Workout Exercises 1

Supersets on a stability ball. Many people own a stability ball, few people work themselves to this level of intensity with it! Perform these supersets and you will be burning fat and toning muscles in no time.

Full Body Core Workout 2: Back and Chest

This is a great workout. Many women neglect to exercise the back and chest, fearing that they will become too muscular or too bulky. This is not the case though, a strong back and chest helps to support your whole body and make you look healthier and fitter. Also it improves posture so that you are less likely to become hunched as you grow older.

Lower Body Workout 3: Step Exercises

There are more core body workouts in the series, but these lower body exercises from Zuzana need a mention. Excellent for toning thighs and buttocks. You could possible do this workout every day. Combined with some regular cardio and a healthy diet this routine will certainly help you to tone your thighs and bum.

To see more of  Zuzana Light’s workouts visit her at www.bodyrock.tv. She is an inspiration to all women and is proof that working out at home can be extremely effective. No gym membership required!

Before we start exercising for weight loss we must know why we are exercising. Although you burn calories while exercising, the biggest advantage comes from building new muscle tissue. Muscles are very demanding in terms of energy, so to grow and maintain muscle you need more energy. Muscles therefore increase your metabolism and make you burn fat quicker.

This is why when we are talking about weight loss we always advise you to do full body workouts. It is not worth just exercising the abdominals because you want to increase total muscle mass as quick as possible to help burn more fat. To do this you need to perform compound movements (movements which utilise several different muscles groups at the same time) and also work the largest muscles in the body. This means legs, glutes, back and chest.

Do not worry about muscle – you will not bulk up or look all veiny like Angelina Jolie. The aim is to look healthy, athletic and curvy. Muscle provides curves, glutes are the main muscle of the bottom, and to get a good shape you need to work the muscle rather than rely on fat deposits. Muscle is fit as well as sexy! So lets look at our 4 workouts.

Exercise Workout Number 1

We start with the weight training. You can perform these exercises using free weights and a weight lifting bench or by using machines. Dumbbells and barbells are both allowed.

• Squats. Squats are possibly the most important exercise that you will do. To perform them properly you stand with your feet just over shoulder width apart and then squat down until your legs are almost parallel to the floor before returning to stand upright. Always look forward when squatting and not down, this helps maintain correct spinal alignment. Perform 3 sets of 10 squats with a weight that is challenging.
• Reverse Lunges. These involve standing up straight, usually while holding a dumbbell in each hand. Step backwards with one foot and sing your weight downwards, bending the front knee. Then return and repeat on the other leg. Again, 3 sets of 10 is best to start with.
• Bench Press. Bench presses work the chest. Do not worry, they are not going to make you look like a bodybuilder, and they will not burn off all your fat either. But they will help your muscles shape and support your chest. Use a solid flat bench and with dumbbells or a barbell press the weight directly upwards from your chest until your arms are straight. Many gyms have chest press machines that you sit upright on and perform the same movement.
• Shoulder Press. This helps to tone the shoulders and also triceps that help with under arm fat and “chicken wings”. Sit upright and press a bar (or dumbbells straight overhead).
• Curls. You can either curl dumbbells or a barbell. Excellent exercise for building stronger arms, not only will you look fitter and healthier but you will be able to carry your shopping and kids with ease!
• Calf Raises. These help build shapely lower legs. Just stand on a step with your heels off the step and lift your bodyweight up and the lower again. Repeat 20 times. You can hold weights if you need to.
• Pull Downs. These work he back, another major muscle group. A strong back helps to give your body an elegant structure and improves posture. Simple sit on a pull down bench and pull the weight towards your chest. You can instead do pull ups (modified of assisted).

Exercise Workout Number 2

The second workout is a traditional bodyweight circuit training workout to help increase muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness. It also burns a lot of fat.

• Bodyweight squats. Same motion as the weighted ones, but with just bodyweight. Aim to complete 100 squats in a session. Either all at once or in any number of sets.
• Star Jumps. Classic old school gym exercise that gets your heart thumping and tones and strengthens your legs. The lateral movement of the legs helps to build stabilising muscles that will help you in other exercises.
• Skipping. Skipping is something that only school girls and boxers do, which is odd as it is such a great exercise, everyone should learn to skip. A great fat burning cardio workout.
• Burpees. They sound odd, but are very effective. From a standing upright position, you squat down to touch the floor, then kick your legs backwards, perform 1 push up, then hop your feet forward again to under your body, then explosively jump upwards with your arms in the air. Land on floor, and repeat. Excellent fun, burns a lot of fat and tones the muscles of the legs, core, and arms.
• Push Ups. Often a hard exercise, so “quarter push ups” are allowed which are when you support your body on your knees instead of your feet. Try to perform up to 50 in a session. Building up push up strength will really help to tone muscle and burn fat.
• Crunches. The classic abs exercise – although alone they will not get you a flat stomach, you still need to do them to tone the stomach.

Exercise Workout Number 3

High intensity interval training workout. This workout involves performing high intensity intervals, which just means sprinting then slowing down to recover  and then sprinting again. You can perform them on exercise bikes, elliptical machines, treadmills (although harder), rowing machines, while out running or swimming.

Short workouts with multiple intervals have been shown to be very effective at improving fitness and burning fat.

Warm up for a few minutes first, and then perform a 30 second sprint. At the end of the 30 seconds slow down to work at a gentle recovery pace for 60 seconds, then as soon as the recovery minute is finished perform another sprint.

Using a machine is easier as it can either be programmed or will have a clock. It is harder to perform this type of training while running. If you are outside you need an interval timer to beep at you for each stage. If you are on a treadmill you have to be careful to not go too fast that you can no longer control the machine! Ellipticals, bikes and rowers are really the best options.

Exercise Workout Number 4

Endurance training. Even though intensive workouts are best for fitness and weight loss, longer sessions are still important. Walking is actually a very good option, so walk for 45-60 minutes at a time to build up stamina and muscular endurance.

So there you go, 4 types of exercise to do each week that will get you fit, tone your muscles and burn fat. Hop to it!

Web Sources and Resources

These sites and articles provide more information on the options we discuss above. The research papers provide evidence to support our workout ideas.

• “11 At-Home Exercises For Women – Save Time And Money” by Angelique Millis. Bodybuilding.com
• “Reduction in intra-abdominal adipose tissue after strength training in older women” by M. S. Treuth, G. R. Hunter, T. Kekes-Szabo, R. L. Weinsier, M. I. Goran, and L. Berland. Journal of Applied Physiology April 1995 vol. 78 no. 41425-1431. Abstract: jap.physiology.org/content/78/4/1425.short
• “Effects of Sit Up Exercise Training on Adipose Cell Size and Adiposity” by Frank Katch. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, v55 n3 p242-47 Sep 1984. Abstract: www.getcited.org/pub/103341727
• “Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism” by Angelo Tremblay, Jean-Aimé Simoneau, Claude Bouchard. Metabolism Volume 43, Issue 7, July 1994, Pages 814-818. Abstract: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0026049594902593

Single arm crunchies

Start as with normal crunchies lying on the floor with knees bent and hips width apart. Engage your abs, keep your neck and head in line with your spine, avoiding any curvature. Place your right hand behind your head and rest your left hand on your thigh.

Lift both shoulders off the floor while sliding your hand along your thigh to your knee. Hold, then return to the floor. Do not pull on your head. Switch hands and repeat. Aim to do 20 reps in total (10 on each side, alternating after each one).

The idea is that rather than performing the more common straight crunch your twist slightly to work one side of the stomach and then the other.

Knee Push Ups

Push ups are a great exercise, they strengthen your arms, shoulders and back as well as the chest. They will not make you look bulky! Performing knee push ups makes the exercise easier so that you should be able to perform 10 repeats. With your palms flat on the floor and fingers facing forwards lower your chest to the floor, keeping your back straight. The push yourself up. If your knees hurt try kneeling on a towel for better comfort.

Inner thigh raises

The legs hold our biggest muscles, and exercising the legs is key to toning the thighs and buttocks.

These are done by laying down on your side with your legs straight and one foot resting on top of the other. Start on your right side.

Support your head with your right arm and place your left hand in front of your chest. Contract your abs and then move your left (top) leg so that it is pointing away from you, still on the floor.

With your right leg straight, lift it upwards off the floor. You should be able to lift it 10-15cm (4-6 inches) comfortable. Hold the lift for a few breaths and the relax, lowing the leg, but do not touch the floor. Repeat, ensuring that your foot does not touch the floor during the exercising. Perform 10-20 reps before rolling on to your left side to do the same with your left leg.

Squats

Squats are one of the best exercises, both for building strength and toning. Athletes, footballers, dancers and martial artists all perform squats to build strength and muscle. These are key to toning up the thighs and bottom.

Squats work the largest muscles of the body, the glutes, which are the muscles that form the shape of the bum. They also work the thighs and hips too.

To perform a squat simply stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your toes pointing forward or slightly to the side. Then bend at the knees and keeping your back straight lower your body downwards as if you are about to sit down. Make sure that your bodyweight is kept to the rear and that your knees do not extend further forward than your toes.

Squat down as far as is comfortable, aim to squat so that your thighs are parallel to the floor. It may take some practice to go this low.

If you struggle to squat low enough you can assist yourself by holding on to the back of a chair with arms stretched out. Face a chair away from you and then as you squat support yourself and aid yourself when push to come up again.

Warming up and cooling down

It is important that you perform a warm up and a cool down before and after your main exercises. A warm up ensures that blood is flowing to your muscles and that your ligaments and tendons are ready for some work. This is a good time to do your cardio workout – a gentle job for 10-15 minutes is a good way to warm up.

The cool down is best done with stretching. Stretching helps your body to become more flexible and this reduces risk of injury from exercise. Also when you can move through a greater motion you can work yourself harder, such as squatting lower or running with a longer stride.

Ideally by the time you have finished your cool-down your heart rate should have returned to normal and you are no longer sweating heavily.

Web resources

• “The ultimate legs, bums and tums workout“, by Jacqui Ripley, iVillage
• Advice and instruction on exercising thighs: www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ThighWt.html
• Which is best? spinning…or bums, tums and thighs?! - NetMums.com

“There are no truly effective treatments for cellulite.“ Mathew M Avram, 2004.

We have started with this quote from Mathew Avram as it is important to know that currently there are still no known cures or effective treatments for reducing cellulite. However, one method that some people have claimed to help to reduce the visual appearance of cellulite is exercise. By exercising you reduce fat (a possible contributing factor for developing cellulite) and tighten the skin and muscles to help make the skin stronger and more elastic.

Cellulite affects around 9/10 women – you are certainly not alone in trying to reduce cellulite!

Step 1 – Cardio Exercises

A health diet can help you prevent cellulite, but it will not get rid of it. The only way you can remove cellulite and have a smooth bum, tummy and thighs is by exercising regularly!

Exercise will not only help you to remove cellulite, but it will also help you to lose some inches on the waist and hip area and get you toned, fit and slimmer.

The more you sweat better results you will get! When you exercise your body circulation speeds up and increases the levels of oxygen in your blood. This stimulates the lymphatic system to work and dispose of internal body waste more effectively, helping to break down the fatty deposits that can cause cellulite.

Exercise regime targeted to fight cellulite

Go running – To help the body to remove cellulite you have to do some cardiovascular exercise to boost the circulation. So, you can do a 20 minutes session of intensive running on a treadmill three times a week. Start the session according to your fitness and increase the intensity of the running time as you get fitter. If you can talk comfortably while exercising you are pacing yourself correctly. At the end of each session do a quick sprint for the last couple of minutes until talking becomes difficult.

Aerobic exercise – Start a cardiovascular activity that you enjoy such as running (as above), dancing, skipping, cycling or brisk walking. The idea is to improve your cardiovascular fitness, helping the body to tackle cellulite.

Aerobic workouts

Choose a workout that you like and go for it. Some breath-taking exercises include:

• Kick Boxing: This exercise is great to shape the bum and burn some calories.
• Cross Trainer: Go for a 3 to 5 percent incline to really work on the bum and legs and switch direction every 5 min if you can to work the muscles all around.
• Power Yoga: If you are into yoga, practice the Sun Salutation, as this will keep you moving and help your body to detox, which also helps to improve bumpy skin due to cellulite. Also try poses such as the warrior and the chair to work your thighs.

Step 2 – Dynamic Exercise Routine

After each 20 minutes cardiovascular session, start a five minutes exercise routine workout with 10 to 20 repetitions each, as follows:

Shrinking Squat – Stand with your feet hip-width apart, hold a 5lbs weight on each hand, toes pointing forward. Bend your knees down into a squat position, keeping the body weight on your heels, leaning forward slightly and keeping the back straight. As you straighten the legs and stand up from the squat, lift one foot and extend one leg at a time sideways in a slow movement, tensing your bum muscles as you do it.

Dead Lift – Stand with your knees slightly bent and feet hip width apart. Hold a 5lbs weight in each hand, clutch the tummy muscles in and lean forward hanging down the arms by the outer thighs, rolling the shoulders back and bending from the hips. Stand back up again in a slow movement.

Side Lunge – Stand upright, bend the elbows and hold the weights pulled in against the chest. Bend the right knee and take a long step straight out to the side with the left leg, toes turned out. Pressing the hip back and leaning forward slightly, lunging down to the right.

Pelvic Tilt – Lie down on your back, bend the knees creating a 90 degree angle to the floor. Keep the arms straight by your sides, palms facing down and touching the floor. Tilt the pelvis up and raise the hips, then open the left thigh out to the side, with a step movement bring the knee back in line with the hip, repeat with the other leg.

Stepping – Stand behind a low bench or step, position the right foot flat on the step, keeping the hand by the sides. Clutch the right bum and stand up onto the step. As you go up lift your left leg out to the side with a slow and controlled movement. Return to the initial position and switch sides after completing a set.

These five exercises should be performed with a slow and controlled movement to work the muscles correctly. In case you don’t have 5lbs hand weights, you can use two half-litre bottles of water.

References and web resources

• “Cellulite: a review of its physiology and treatment” by Mathew M Avram. Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy 2004, Vol. 6, No. 4 , Pages 181-185 (doi:10.1080/14764170410003057) Abstract.
• “Cellulite Treatment: A Myth or Reality: A Prospective Randomized, Controlled Trial of Two Therapies, Endermologie and Aminophylline Cream” by Collis N, Elliot LA, Sharpe C, Sharpe DT. Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery: September 1999 – Volume 104 – Issue 4 – pp 1115-1117 Abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10654755
• “Thin thighs in 30 days” by Mandy Franis. Mail Online. Accessed Oct 2011.

If you are like many of our readers here you are keen to lose your belly fat, tone your thighs and trim down the fat on your arms and bottom.

Fortunately the same exercises and diet rules will help all of these. There are really just 3 things that you need to do to lose fat from any part of your body:

1. You need to change your diet
2. You need to get more active in your daily routines
3. You need to get stronger and fitter

Without exception everyone that you see around you that is overweight has got into that situation for one simple reason – they have eaten more food than they need. There are some medical conditions and medications which mean that people are likely to have a larger appetite, but the general rule is that overweight people eat too much, you included!

If anyone says “I have tried every type of exercise there is and not lost weight” it is for 2 reasons that they failed to lose weight:

1. Their fitness levels prevented them from exercising at a high enough intensity to make a huge difference to their metabolic rate.
2. They did not change their diet to help with their weight loss, instead making the classic mistake of thinking that exercising means you do not need to diet.

Likewise, whenever anyone says “I have tried every diet under the sun and cannot lose weight“, the lack of weight loss is generally due to this:

1. They did not follow the diet correctly, and usually cheated along the way. Many people say they are following a diet, and then eat foods that are banned on the diet with the excuse – “well, I cannot believe this is unhealthy”. Classic examples are people continuing to eat bread and high GI vegetables when on an induction phase of a low carbohydrate diet, or people drinking copious amounts of fruit juices and smoothies even though they have been told not too by their dietician, because those drinks are “healthy”.
2. They do the diet reasonably well, but make no other changed to their lifestyle, and do no exercise.

Researchers have shown that diet and exercise must be done together for weight loss plans to work. Diet without exercise and exercise without diet both lead to failure.

Tummy Toning Diet and Exercise Plan for Women

If you wish to lose your belly fat, then follow these rules. Please note that “spot reduction”, that is reduction of fat from one body part, is not possible. So knowing how to lose belly fat is actually knowing how to lose weight, as the only way to lose belly fat is to reduce your overall fat content. Whether you are very overweight, or if you just have a stubborn layer of fat left to shift before you can display a set of six pack abs, these tips should solve your problems.

Before we continue, please note that performing hundreds of abdominal exercises everyday does not help to reduce fat. Crunches and sit ups alone, although intensive on the stomach, will not shift fat – and building bigger abdominals could actually make your stomach look bigger if it is still covered in a layer of fat.

Why are we focussing on belly fat? Two reasons – to show off our abs, and also to be healthy. Modern thought concerning weight issues is that simply measuring body mass index does not provide a good indicator of health. Size of waist circumference is a better measure of health. Even a small amount of fat carried in the abdominal region is unhealthy.

For many people losing tummy fat and getting a toned stomach is the most important goal of any fitness and weight loss regime. So today we shall look at ways to tone your stomach, sculpt your abs and burn off belly fat.

There are 3 elements to achieving a well toned and flat stomach:

• Diet – Diet is the most important factor. What we eat determines how much energy we have, how much fat we accumulate and how healthy we are. It also determines the speed at which you build muscle and helps to control hunger and speed up metabolism. Some people say that diet accounts for 80% of weight loss.
• Exercise – Exercise is also vital to weight loss and tummy toning. But alone it will not be enough, which is why diet is so important. Also, without exercise. diet will fail. Exercise burns fat and also increases metabolism as a result of building more muscle.
• Sleep – This is something that is so often overlooked. Sleep affects weight. Not only does lack of sleep lead to hormonal imbalance that affects appetite, it also leads to binge eating and inactivity which lower metabolism.

The Tummy Diet Plan

This is simple: Eat less and cut out sugar.

There really is little more to it than that. But, most people fail to understand what sugar is. Sugar is not just the white stuff that you have in a jar for coffee and tea. Sugar is present in all carbohydrates, and “healthy” vegetables and fruits are not immune to the presence of sugar.

Why do you need to eat less sugar?

Sugar is energy in its pure state. There is nothing useful other than the energy. As soon as we have consumed too much energy we start storing excess energy as FAT. So if your fitness instructor, dietician, weight loss plan etc. say that you cannot drink fruit juice or eat carrots, it is because this plan is getting you to reduce your sugar intake.

The reason for cutting out highly nutritious juices and some vegetables is because the diet plan will be getting you to consume more healthy protein sources and healthy fats which help to strengthen your body and suppress your appetite. If you follow the diet but then drink a fruit smoothie and add a few extra vegetables to your plate you will go over your daily calorie allowance, and you will not lose weight. So if you go on a diet, follow it to the T. No excuses.

Other common mistakes people make when “dieting” are drinking energy drinks or energy bars. These are great for professional athletes or extremely fit and strong people that are used to working out a lot. People that drink protein shakes are also keeping a close eye on the rest of their diet. If you are on a diet plan and it does not say “drink the protein shake that your friend is drinking in the gym” then do not drink one! Just because a friend or colleague says it will help you does not mean it will. It will only help you if you are doing everything else that they are doing.

So, diet rules are: Eat less food, cut out sugar. Drink water instead of everything else.

Cut Sugar and Saturated Fat

After exercising, the most important rule for losing belly fat is to stop eating junk food. Although, some nutritionists say that junk food can be eaten in moderation, it often leads to excess with little effort. Do not take the risk. From now on junk food in any form should not be allowed into your home.

So no more takeaways, no more double whoppers with cheese, no more cookies, sweets, candy, soda or other sugar laden snacks. It is also important to cut back on processed meats – so say no to hot dogs, sausages, salami and other forms of processed meat. These meats are high in saturated fats.

Eat The Right Carbohydrates

Not all carbs are equal. Refined flours and the foods that they create, such as white bread, pasta, donuts, cakes and biscuits should be avoided. They can cause bloatedness, poor digestion, and lead to accumulation of fat. “Good carbs”, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, should be eaten instead.

A diet that takes most of its carbs from fruits and vegetables, as opposed to flours, is healthier. Slow release carbs are also beneficial, such as oats, brown rice, some pulses and sweet potato. Ideally granary or wholemeal bread should be eaten instead of white bread, and biscuits and cakes should be avoided.

Consuming too much carbohydrate can bump up your insulin level, which can slow down your metabolism. Your body cannot metabolize too much carbohydrate at once because the body doesn’t need so much energy at once. The excess sugar will just turn into belly fat.

Much research has shown that adopting the Atkins Nutritional Approach, i.e. a high fat/protein diet, is the way ahead. Avoiding carbohydrates increases fat burning metabolism (lipolysis), which helps to reduce stomach fat.

Stop Binge Eating

Try not to binge on food in the evening. Often people eat out of boredom, frustration or stress. And when at home, binge eating is very easy to do. The main problem with binge eating in the evening is that there is not much activity done afterwards. Going to bed straight after eating causes high sugar levels in the blood stream and no energy is spent after that. As a result the excess sugar turns into fat. So, DO NOT BINGE!

Also, try to consume your last meal around 2-3 hours before your bedtime. If you are hungry during late nights, consume a small meal rather than binge.

Drink Less Alcohol

Decrease alcohol consumption, or better still, give up drinking altogether. There is a good reason why a beer belly is called a beer belly! There are two reasons to give up alcohol. Firstly, alcoholic drinks contain a lot of calories, especially those that are sweetened. Beer is stacked with carbohydrates and sugars. If you are in the habit of having a few drinks in the evening, these calories really add up, and the fat is generally accumulated around the waist. The other reason is a metabolic one. When you consume alcohol, your body stops burning fat and sugars while using the alcohol for energy. Alcohol is a source of energy. This means that if you spend an evening drinking, you will not be in a state off lipolysis (fat burning) or glucosis (sugar/carbohydrate burning) and any food eaten will be stored as fat. Only once all the alcohol has been utilised will you start to burn fat again.

Losing tummy fat and getting a flat stomach is a long term goal for most people, so persevere, stick to the plan and don’t give up. In addition to these tips, look to enhance your fitness training by following specific routines and schedules. Organising your weekly routine makes it much easier for you to follow your schedule. After a while it will become second nature for you to get out and exercise. If you do not have to think about what you are going to do, then that saves precious time. Keep a diary, write up your training goals and progress in an exercise log, and just do it!

The lose stomach fat you have to know who your enemies are. These are your tummy enemies:

• Sugar in all its forms
• Junk food of all types
• Processed foods
• Ready meals
• Soda
• High GI foods
• Fruit juice
• Health snacks

You may be surprised by the last two on the list. Any excess sugar we eat is converted into fat. Most people overestimate the amount of food they need each day by a long way. Fruit juices and healthy snacks a full of energy, energy that most people do not need.

Fruit juice contains a lot of fructose, which is the natural sugar in fruit. Although fruits are healthy, and a rich and varied diet is required to a healthy immune system and proper functioning of muscles and the nervous system, too much fruit juice will lead to accumulation of fat, or at least will slow down weight loss. If you are serious about losing weight then stop drinking juice. The only drinks you should have are water, tea and coffee, both without milk. (Elliott, 1992)

“Health snacks” are another problem when losing weight. They are only labelled “healthy” because they contain low salt or low fat levels. However, they are almost always energy dense foods made of grains. Although there is nothing unhealthy about them as such, they are so full of energy that eating a couple of health snacks a day will stop you from losing weight, and will not let you lose your tummy fat.

Healthy Eating Options

So to lose tummy fat you need to have real healthy food. This means eating food that is closer to nature. So fresh fruits and vegetables (raw), or lightly cooked vegetables (ideally steamed). Following a low GI diet is recommended as this lowers total sugar intake, and as we mentioned already, all sugar consumed is turned to fat, if it is not burnt off.

Some examples of healthy low GI foods you can eat are:

• Pulses – beans, peas etc.
• Apples – eat the skins
• Grapefruit – grapefruit juice is acceptable in moderation
• Plums
• Cherries
• Avocado – great with mozzarella and tomato in tricoli salads
• Courgettes
• Spinach – baby spinach can be eating raw in salads
• Peppers – high in vitamins
• Onions – one of natures wonders
• Mushrooms
• Leafy greens – eat in abundance in salads – rocket and watercress are great options
• Leeks
• Green beans
• Broad beans
• Brussels sprouts
• Mange-tout peas
• Broccoli – a superfood
• Cauliflowers
• Natural yoghurt
• Milk
• Peanuts

There are many other low and medium GI foods available. Educate yourself well on this topic and weight loss will become much easier.

Remember that lean meats and fish are all low GI (no sugar in fact) so are allowed. Remember to stick to healthy cuts of meat, limit fat. Fat is very energy dense, so only a little fat can quickly push you over your daily calories allowance.

Exercise For Flat Stomach

Why You need to get stronger and fitter

This is a vital part of weight loss. Exercise does several things:

• When you exercise you burn calories which helps you lose weight
• When you build muscles you increase your metabolism, which means you use energy quicker and burn more fat
• Exercise helps you feel good about yourself, your self esteem increases
• Exercise helps you sleep better which means you desire less comfort snacks and keep calories down

Benefits of Exercise

Exercise has many other benefits but these are the most important. And remember, you need to exercise and diet to lose weight, not just one.

As for the type of exercise you do, it does not actually matter that much. You do not need to do any stomach exercises to lose weight. Intensive cardio exercise like running, cycling and swimming with regular weight training exercises, like squats, lunges, bench press, rows and curls, will help you far more than any abdominal exercise. Exercise is about burning fat and building muscles. Ab exercises alone are not anywhere near enough. And if you think that exercising your abs help you lose your belly fat, then you are mistaken.

The most important change you must make if you wish to lose you belly fat and get a flat stomach is to start working out. But simply jogging a few miles twice a week, or playing some tennis at the weekend, will not shift stubborn belly fat. The best way to lose weight is a combination of intensive interval training and resistance training, ideally in the form of compound weight training.

You do not need to join a gym to start getting fit, as we can provide several home exercise routines, as well as weight training routines. However, for motivation and support, being a member of a gym can help.

One of the best ways to get some intensive interval training is in a martial arts class. Kickboxing, karate, judo, and kung-fu are all excellent choices. Also new popular methods include spinning, kick-boxercise as well as more traditional step aerobics. You need to be working in the fat burning zone, so invest in a heart rate monitor, and learn how to use it!

For weight training we recommend a beginners training workout, which is designed to burn fat and tone muscles for a lean and slender look.

You should aim to do two intensive weight training sessions and two intensive circuit training sessions each week. Always plan a good rest day at the weekend, plus have a day of “active rest”, which means moderate light activity, such as swimming or walking on the other day. Read our abs exercise tips to get you going, also learning how the celebrities get fit can give you inspiration, and we have workouts and diet tips from some of our favourite celebs to help you.

No Stomach Exercises to Burn Fat!

There are no “stomach exercises” as such that will flatten your stomach. The best way to exercise to get a flat stomach is to perform full body workouts and exercise the core also. So perform circuit training workouts with squats, lunges, star jumps, skipping, push ups, burpees, leg raises, back extensions and crunches too.

Weight training is an excellent way to tone and stay trim. Barbell squats, deadlifts, shoulder press, lateral pull down (or modified pull ups) dips, curls and bench press are all excellent exercises that work large muscle groups, burn fat, raise metabolism and tone muscles.

The core muscles for weight management and toning are really squats and lunges (work similar leg, bum and thigh muscles), lateral pull downs (works back and arms), push up . bench press (works chest) and curls (work biceps). These exercises will get you toned. Toned legs can make a huge difference to your over all body shape, and you will look good naked if you get toned!

If you do all this right then a flat stomach will come naturally in time. Getting a flat tummy is really all about eating well and exercising properly to burn off the fat and tone up the muscles. You do not need to perform exercises and amazing athletic skill, you just need to stick to the plan and work hard at it for as long as it takes.

You need to get more active in your daily routines

This is more than just doing regular exercise. Many of us become more and more sedentary as we grow older. It is important to just get more active in your every day life. I meet people who drive to the local shops instead of walk, even though they are only 10 minutes walk away, along a quite, rural path. I see people who drive their children to the local school even though it is only 5 minutes walk away. Usually they give an excuse like “it was a bit wet” or “I was going to the shops afterwards anyway“.

If this sounds like you then get out of these habits. Walk to the shops, walk your children to school, then walk back again before hopping in the car to go to the shops. Even if you have little need to get out of the house, do so. Go for a walk, wander around the shopping mall if need be, just get up off your feet and move.

Never give up, each day you will make a little progress in the right direction.

References

• “Fructose, weight gain, and the insulin resistance syndrome” by Sharon S Elliott, Nancy L Keim, Judith S Stern, Karen Teff and Peter J Havel. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 76, No. 5, 911-922, November 2002. Abstract: http://www.ajcn.org/content/76/5/911.short
• “A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain” by Richard A. Forshee, Maureen L. Storey, David B. Allison, Walter H. Glinsmann, Gayle L. Hein, David R. Lineback, Sanford A. Miller, Theresa A. Nicklas, Gary A. Weaver & John S. White. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. Volume 47, Issue 6, 2007. Abstract: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10408390600846457
• “Diet, nutrition and the prevention of excess weight gain and obesity” by BA Swinburn, I Caterson, JC Seidell and WPT James. Public Health Nutrition: 7(1A), 123–146
• “Food for Thought“by Antigone Kouris. Low GI News. Accessed Oct. 2011.
• “Circuit Training Workouts” MotleyHealth.com. Accessed Oct. 2011.