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.

So, how do we lose weight and lose belly fat by following the 3 rules above?

1. You need to change your diet

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.

2. 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.

3. 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

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.

So if you are serious about losing weight and losing that belly fat then follow these simple rules. If you want a more detailed weight loss plan then we recommend that you take a look at the MCD Weight Loss Plan that has been developed by MotleyHealth.com. Alternatively try one of the many other weight loss programs that are available online.

She explained to the Loose Women how laughter works the muscles to help burn fat. A good belly laugh also helps tone stomach muscles.

Children can laugh several hundred times a day but as adults we stop laughing, often only laughing a few times. When the fun of life is lost, we get fat!

How to Laugh

The trick is to follow some exercises that mimic laughing and then encourage you to laugh. Her motto for laughing is fake it, fake it until you make it.

Laughing Exercise 1

Start with your hands on your tummy and breath in then do a big “ha ha ha ha” followed by a deep “ho ho ho ho” laugh in the style of Father Christmas.

Laughing Exercise 2

Then hold out each hand in front, as if you are holding a big jug of beer / water. Pour the imaginary contents from one jug to the other while doing the belly laugh – “ho ho ho” – and then pour back into the first mug with a “oooooooh!” sound of surprise, and repeat.

Laughing Exercise 3

The final stage is to down the imaginary  jug of beer with a big belly laugh, leaning back and slapping your side with your other hand.

Do all these several times in a group and soon you will be laughing for real and burning off calories. So get laughing! Laugh yourself thin.

Before performing these workouts it is best to warm up with some simple lateral and forward/back jumps over your towel, plus some towel overhead squats (hold towel above your head with straight arms while squatting).

Towel Workouts on a Wooden Floor

These guys do a great full body workout that hits the core, upper body and legs well.

Towel Workouts With Your Partner

This workout takes you through 5 classic weight training exercises, but they are done by using your partner for resistance rather than using weights. Each parter performs a different exercise at the same time. Switch roles after each exercise. Exercises include the assisted row/ sits ups, chest press / rows, shoulder presses / pull downs, arm curls, triceps extensions

Beach Towel Workout

No excuses for not getting fit and staying fit all summer. Exercise on the beach made easy. Here a fitness instructors from Canada displays his own towel workout. Much more intensive with plyometric push ups, dips, leg raises, one leg squats. Really this is more a beach chair workout than a beach towel workout, but good all the same.

Click the photo to order

Petra Kolbar’s Step by Step Strength Training DVD is a great way for you to learn how to perform strength training workouts as part of  your exercise regime. This DVD also highlights that strength training is for women too.

The instructions are clear and Petra reminds you that you should focus on quality of exercise not quantity. This is often refereed to as keeping good form or technique. Not only quality of exercise give better results, but it also reduces injury and makes the exercises more enjoyable.

Strength training for women explains how strength training not only tones the body to give you healthy and athletic curves rather than fatty ones, but it also explains that strength training increases your metabolism so that you burn fat quicker.

The DVD provides 6 separate workouts which last from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. This ensures that no matter how hectic your life is, you can still fit in a workout. The workouts:

• Upper Body Workout (10 minutes)
• Lower Body Workout (10 minutes)
• Total Body Workout (20 minutes)
• Strength and Balance Training (20 minutes)
• Abdominal and stomach exercises (5 minutes)

Petra performs the workouts with 2 assistants, one of which performs modifications of the harder exercises which can help if you are very new to the exercises.

Exercises performed in the upper body workout include bicep curls, dumbbell rows, tricep kickbacks, diagonal raises, push ups and a variety of other exercises. The lower body workout includes all the main strength exercises, such as squats, lunges and calf raises. These produce strength and help tone thighs, buttocks and the core.

The 20 integrated workout combines upper and lower body for a full body workout. This is great if you want to give yourself a full workout, starting off very aerobic before moving on to some light weight dumbbell exercises.

The strength and balance workout is the most dynamic of the workouts and will provide a great fat burning workout that will tone bums, tums and thighs.

This DVD is called Strength Training but many of the exercises are quite aerobic, especially in the main 20 minute integrated workout. If you want a real strength training DVD that teaches you how to safely and effectively use heavy free weights and resistance machines to build strong, athletic muscle, then this DVD is not for you.

However, if you are looking for a refreshing new full body workout which also includes separate upper, lower, abs and balance workouts, so that you can split your routine across the week, then this DVD does provide that. You can increase the weight of your dumbbells to make this more of a strength workout.

All you need to follow the 65 minutes of these workouts is a chair and a pair of dumbbells. If you perform one of these workouts 3 or 4 times a week you will get fit and start to tone up and strengthen your body. A strong body is a healthy body and this is something that many women neglect. If you want to start strength training for the first time then this DVD is a great place to start.

Order Step by Step Strength Training DVD from Amazom.com

If you need to lose a little weight quickly then this weight loss plan can help you to lose as much as 3 pounds in just 2 days. Ideal for losing some weight before a weekend away or the summer vacation.

The diet does not exclude any of the food groups so you will not be going zero carb today. The focus is on cutting sodium levels to help reduce water retention so that you lose weight quickly by carrying less unnecessary water under your skin.

If you wish to lose more weight then all you have to do is repeat this diet every two days. Although in the short term you will be losing mostly retained water, if you continue with this low calorie diet for 2 weeks you should be able to lose up to 20 pounds. Try to do some exercise too.

At the end of the diet only increase portion size slightly. There is a deceptive amount of energy in this diet so increasing the portions by 50% will probably be enough to ensure that you are still able to maintain weight loss for a couple of weeks. Also by increasing the portion size you will be able to start exercise more intensively. Don’t forget to do your stomach exercises too!

2 Day Diet – Day 1

Breakfast

Start the day with a bowl of low-fat natural yoghurt with a handful of fresh berries. Some honey is allowed if you require a sweeter taste.

Lunch

Measure out 300g of tomato and basil soup, no more. Afterwards eat an orange and a tablespoon of plain nuts.

Dinner

90g of chicken-style Quorn pieces stir fried with broccoli, red pepper, onion and some spinach. Use just 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and serve with 3 tablespoons of brown rice. Absolutely not white rice!

Evening Snack

2 kiwi fruits.

2 Day Diet – Day 2

Breakfast

A small bowl of porridge made with semi-skinned milk. Add a handful of raisins.

Lunch

A small jacket potato (no more that 100g) with baked beans. Make sure the bean are a low salt and sugar variety.

Dinner

A small grilled fish with a green salad. Dress the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or just lemon juice.

Evening Snack

Chopped apple drizzled on honey and topped with low fat yoghurt.

Circuit training has three major advantages over every other type of exercise:

1. It works the whole body, upper and lower body, it stretches and conditions the body too.
2. You can create a circuit to last any length of time, and then repeat as often as required, or within a set time. So create a circuit that takes you 5 minutes, and you automatically have a 5 minute workout, a 10 minute workout, a 15 minute workout and so on. Time is never an excuse not to exercise again.
3. It can be done in a very small space at home, so no gym required and bad weather cannot stop you.

Simple Circuit for Maximum Toning and Fitness

Skipping Station

Start the circuit with skipping. Skipping is an excellent way to warm up plus it burns a lot of calories. Use a speed rope to make skipping easier. Those old heavy ropes slow you down. Skipping also helps tone the arms and shoulders so you can wave goodbye to those chicken wings!

Push Up Station

Although we call them stations, they can all be done in the same place! Push ups work the shoulders, arms and chest, and also help tighten the core. Keep your back straight, good posture is important to get the most out of a push up. If a full push up is too hard then try a quarter push up, which means having your knees on the floor instead. As soon as you can perform 20 of these you should be working on the full push up. If you get tired stop and hold in the plank position to help tighten the abs.

Bicycles

Bicycles are a form of crunch really. They are thought to be the single most important abdominal exercise. Lie on your back with your hands behind your head (but do not pull on your neck). Simultaneously lift your right elbow towards your left knee, so that you perform a twisting crunch sit up. Return then repeat on the opposite side. Repeat for the duration / number of reps you are aiming for.

Tricep Dips

Athletes perform full body tricep dips on parallel bars, but you should start with dips on a chair. Start by sitting on a chair with your hands next to your hips, the fingers over the edge of the seat. Then move your buttocks forward off the sit and lower yourself, then lift straight upwards. Focus on tensing the triceps. Watch as those chicken wings fly away!

This short circuit works the whole body and you should be able to comfortably work for 1 minute on each exercise with a 15 second rest after each one, making 1 circuit in 5 minutes.

On average a women will lose 10 pounds (4.5kg) more if they exercise and diet with a female friend. 20% of women that exercise alone do not lose any weight at all.

A study was carried out which examined the exercise and dietary habits of 3000 women. A staggering 61% of these women hardly ever did any exercise at all by themselves, but they were more likely to exercise with friends.

The Summer Workout Plan

Hopefully you have now got fitter by exercising everyday over the winter and Spring months since the end of the holiday season. So now you should be able to do 2 workouts each day.

Every morning you should do your cardio workout, ideally before breakfast. Comprising of 45 minutes of cardio, with the last 15 minutes including at least 3 intensive sprint intervals to really get the heart rate up and your lungs panting. Breakfast should be lean and could include either an egg or a banana.

Lunch time is salad time, only add olive oil as a dressing, with tuna or chicken (without the skin). Ensure you only chose those low GI vegetables for the salad. Lettuce, rocket and watercress are all excellent options.

Evening supper should be very light also, so that you can then do an evening workout. This should include one of the following:

• Yoga routine / other callisthenics
• Circuit training routine
• Weight training routine (push/pull session, or upper/lower body session – split those workouts)

These evening sessions should only be 20-30 minutes long, as you are exercising twice a day. Warm up with a few movements then do the work sets. With weight training especially split your routines to allow yourself to workout everyday.

If you are a very keen weight lifter then you will need to take rest days as you will be lifting heavier weights.

After your evening session have a light protein snack (fish, eggs etc.) or a protein shake. But not both.

Drink plenty of water throughout the day and watch the weight come off and your muscles tone up and strengthen in time for the beach holidays.

1. Alcohol is allowed but no while you eat. When you drink while eating you stop thinking about your food and are more likely to eat too much.
2. Grazing throughout the day is OK so long as you always follow the rules. Snacking is good for you and a great way to keep metabolism high and hunger at bay, but only if you snack on healthy food and do not overindulge.
3. Do not eat breakfast if you are not hungry. Breakfast is still important, but only eat what you need. So often people pile into a massive breakfast because they read somewhere that they should eat breakfast like a King. If you are not hungry, don’t eat it.
4. Eat when you are hungry. This actually keeps metabolism at a high. Back to eating. Yes, eat when you are hungry. Reprogram your body to tell you when you need food and when you are full. Do not starve yourself as this lowers metabolism and then leads to over eating.
5. Never put your work first – your health should always come first. Look after your health, eat healthy at work, and do not skip meals just because the boss wants more work from you. You have rights.
6. Stop thinking of yourself as being overweight, instead imagine what you are becoming – fitter and healthier. Be positive about yourself and your future.
7. Every day plan the day ahead to make sure you do not risk slipping off the weight loss wagon. By planning your day you avoid falling into traps along the way.
8. Still eat mostly low sugar foods from the low GI food list. Low GI food makes putting on weight much harder as the carbohydrates are digested slowly and the energy released slowly. There is less excess energy to convert to fat.
9. Drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated and ward off hunger. So often people confuse thirst with hunger. Avoid this by staying hydrated. Being hydrated not only reduces hunger but also improves concentration, keeps the skin fresh, is good for digestion and general wellbeing and is a calorie free alternative to every other drink in the World. Water is the only calorie free drink.
10. Enjoy your food. Do not become a slave to your new diet. Enjoy the foods you eat.

But seriously, here’s the point: Exercise doesn’t have to be tedious, monotonous and painful to help you lose weight and be healthier. Just find an activity you like and start doing it. Gardening, by the way, is exercise. So is chopping wood, painting the house and yes, even computer work burns some calories. Remember all activity throughout the day counts toward total calories burned. That’s still true. Twenty minutes on the treadmill is not the only way to burn 200 calories. Twenty minutes of rearranging furniture in your house can do the same thing.

Exactly how many calories you’ll burn depends on the activity you choose as well as how long and intensely you do it, but here are some examples of how many calories the average 150-pound man would burn for 30 minutes:

• Downhill skiing – 216
• Basketball – 288
• Dancing – 108
• Gardening – 167
• Computer work – 50
• Cooking – 90
• Biking – 288
• Horseback riding – 144
• Interior remodeling – 162

All of these activities can help you maintain a healthy weight and build a strong, lean body (although some will help more than others). If you aren’t sure what to do, try matching an activity to your personality. For example, if you’re a competitive person you might really enjoy a basketball or softball league. Our grandfather loved to grow things and spending countless hours tending to his garden kept him in good shape. As Grandpa once said, “Just figure out what floats your boat and stay with it!”

To read more about proper exercise, transforming your body and life get a copy of the Great Shape-Up Program today from America’s Healthiest Couple, Dan & Jennifer Polimino. Find out more at www.greatshapeup.net.