Middlesection Bulging Damage Control for MIddle-Aged Women

Losing belly fat and toning up abs muscles not a struggle anymore for middle-aged women. Denville NJ personal trainers Carey Yang shares top strategies to tone up midsection for middle-aged women.

According to a study just published in Journal of the American Medical Association, middle-aged American women need to exercise in a moderate intensity an hour a day, every single day, just to avoid weight gain.

The study followed 34,079 women over 13 years. In that time, they gained an average of about 6 pounds each. Don’t let the word “average” fool you into thinking that a handful of really heavy women skewed the average. Some 87 percent of the women gained weight.

An hour a day, every single day?! Is this even a possible goal to set and reach?

“The answer is Yes,” says Carey Yang, owner and master trainer of Denville, NJ-based Beyond Fitness Solutions, LLC. “But take one baby step at a time before you get frustrated, burnt out and quit.”

Yang shares his strategies with middle-aged women how to avoid weight gain. It goes beyond just an hour of moderate exercise a day.

1.Know where you are. You got to know your numbers – weigh, body mass index (BMI), body fat, and waist measurement. User-friendly calculators can be found www.cdc.gov/healthy weight/assessing. If you are not sure, find a fitness trainer in the gym and hire one to your home for consultation.

2.Exercise right and amp up intensity. The study refers to an hour of moderate exercise. It doesn’t mean you have to gym every day or run on treadmill or bike. Other activites such as walking,  hiking, golfing all help 300 to 400 calories. If you increase the activity level and intensity, you can even burn more calories by running, aerobics or swimming.

3.Watch your calories. The truth is that you can’t outtrain a bad diet. You can train all day, every day, but eat all night and more than you can burn off, you will gain weight.

4.Portion control. Most people are overweight for one simple reason: They eat too much. You have to learn what a serving size is. It varies depending on the type of food, form and measuring unit. You’ll find calorie counting isn’t that hard. It may be tough at first, but in time you’ll find that you don’t have to be stuffed to be satisfied.

Learn how to use your bodyweight to exercise more, lose more fat in less time.
http://tinyurl.com/bwburnworkout

About C. Carey Yang and Beyond Fitness Solutions, LLC
C. Carey Yang, Your Dream Body WorkoutXpert, is a certified personal trainer and fitness boot camp instructor based in Denville, New Jersey. Yang is the founder and master trainer of Beyond Fitness Solutions, LLC providing in-home personal fitness training, backyard boot camp, wellness and lifestyle coaching, and fitness and weight-management seminar.

Yang specializes in helping busy, working professionals who want safe, effective workouts with maximum results in minimum time. Yang is the creator of the 6-Step Dream Body Blueprint Body Transformation System.

To learn more about lifestyle and wellness coaching, personal fitness training and nutritional counseling and to sign up for a free monthly e-zine, receive free fitness and fat loss e-books, and schedule a complimentary consultation, visit http://www.BeyondFitnessSolutions.com.

He is also available for media interviews, providing a list of tips and articles, and presenting wellness and fitness seminar. Call 973-303-2424 or email Carey@BeyondFitnessSolutions.com.

War Against Obesity is National Issue

Fighting against rising epidemic obesity is a national warfare declared by Morris County NJ personal trainer, fitness expert and diet coach Care Yang.

Obese Pot Belly

National obesity rate keeps rising with no stop in sight. According to new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 32 million more Americans will become obese by 2030, upping obesity rates to 42 percent of the U.S. population

The report also predicts that the proportion of Americans who are severely obese, meaning more than 100 pounds overweight, will reach 11 percent, about double the current rate. The damage is $550 billion of obesity-related health care costs that can be used to build national infrastructure, improve education, enhance job skills training, reduce unemployment rate, and stimulate economy.

"This is a sad story to read," says Carey Yang,  a certified personal trainer and fitness expert in New Jersey.

Yang is the owner and master personal trainer at Beyond Fitness Solutions, LLC — a leading in-home personal training and weight-loss management company serving and helping clients in Morris County, Sussex County, Passaic County, Essex County and Somerset County areas in New Jersey.

About 34 percent of adults are currently obese, creating a whole host of expensive, chronic health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

"This is a war and we have to fight together as a nation," Yang says. "It has to start with youth. We know that about 50 percent of severe obesity in adults is consequence of obesity in childhood. Currently about 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese."

Yang says, we have so many government agencies, non-profit organizations, communities and schools involved to fight both adult and childhood obesity with a variety of programs. Even the First Lady Michelle Obama early this year launched a campaign to fight childhood obesity by improving childhood nutrition and physical activity.

“Nutrition and exercise start from home. Parents hold the key to educating their children,” Yang says. “Parents should be good role models for their children. If your children see you slouch in front of the tube and dig into a bag of chips along with a bottle of beer, it’s hard to resist the same lifestyle. Chunky Mom, plus chunky Dad, often equals chunky kids and pets.”

Yang advocates parents and family involvements in fighting against obesity. Health and fitness is truly a family matter. He offers a few solutions to promoting active lifestyle and making healthy choices.

1. Be a positive role model. Parents have to set a good example for themselves and for their children such as regular exercise, being active and eating a healthy balanced die.

2. Set family time to prepare meals and exercise together. Research shows that families eating and exercising together also stay closer. 

3. Assign household chores. Children can learn the value of responsibility by sharing active household chores while increasing physical activity.

4. Limit sedentary activities. Watching TV and playing electronic games have taken so much time and opportunity out of moving around and exercising. Studies have shown that reducing TV time is associated with reductions in body weight and body fat.

It’s a day-to-day process and a series of repeated small steps that add up to awesome health habits. “Every time you choose the vegetables over the chips, a walk over a drive, and an active game over T.V., you’ve just made another donation to yourself and to your families lifetime health and fitness fund,” Yang says.

About C. Carey Yang and Beyond Fitness Solutions, LLC
C. Carey Yang, Your Dream Body WorkoutXpert (TM), is a certified personal trainer and fitness boot camp instructor based in Morris County, New Jersey. He provides in-home personal fitness training, backyard boot camp, wellness and lifestyle coaching, and fitness and weight-management seminar. He specializes in helping busy, working professionals who want safe, effective workouts with maximum results in minimum time. Yang is the creator of the 6-Step Dream Body Blueprint (TM) Body Transformation System.

To learn more about lifestyle and wellness coaching, personal fitness training and nutritional counseling and to sign up for a free monthly e-zine, receive free fitness and fat loss e-books, and schedule a complimentary consultation, visit http://www.BeyondFitnessSolutions.com.

He is also available for media interviews, providing a list of tips and articles, and presenting wellness and fitness seminar. Call 973-303-2424 or email Carey at BeyondFitnessSolutions.com.


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U.S. Obesity Rate to Surge to 42% by 2030

About 32 million more Americans will become obese by 2030, upping obesity rates to 42 percent of the U.S. population, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report also predicts that the proportion of Americans who are severely obese, meaning more than 100 pounds overweight, will reach 11 percent, about double the current rate.

The report’s authors give a sobering price tag for these predictions: such an increase would create $550 billion of obesity-related health care costs.

Eric Finkelstein, one of the authors of the report, said the prospect of such increasing rates, particularly those of severely obese Americans, is alarming since efforts aimed at helping people lose weight have so far proven relatively ineffective.

“Their weight continues to increase. Over the last 10 years, it has gone up tremendously,” he said in a press conference. “This is a group at great risk of health complications, and yet they are increasing at an even greater rate than the rate of obesity.”

The report was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and was released at the CDC’s Weight of the Nation conference today, a gathering focused on the impact of the obesity epidemic. The authors analyzed data collected from each state and made projections based on a number of factors influencing obesity rates, including the cost of healthy and unhealthy foods, gas prices and Internet access.

“Predicting obesity is tricky and no one variable showed up as causing obesity,” Finkelstein said.

Although recent data suggest that rates of obesity have reached a plateau, current rates of obesity are still alarmingly high. About 34 percent of adults are currently obese, creating a whole host of expensive, chronic health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The report’s authors said a number of factors could lead to the predicted rise in obesity. About two-thirds of Americans are currently overweight and could continue to gain weight and move into the obese category.

Dr. William Dietz, one of the study’s authors and director of the CDC’s division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, also noted that children who are currently overweight or obese will likely be a major source of the increasing rates.

“We know that about 50 percent of severe obesity in adults is consequence of obesity in childhood,” he said.

Currently about 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese.

Anti-obesity measures such as better urban design, access to recreational facilities, workplace health promotion and new drugs could help reign in the problem, the authors noted.

Morris County NJ Personal Trainer and Fitness Expert Carey Yang Interviewed by MSN Fitbit on How to Lose Love Handles with New Moves in Slim Muffin Top

Morris County NJ personal trainer and fitness expert Carey Yang is interviewed and featured in the authoritative source for diet, fitness and weight loss site MSN Fitbie. The title of the article is "How to Lose Your Love Handles: 10 Moves to Slim Your Mufftin Top."

Yang is the owner and master personal trainer at Beyond Fitness Solutions, LLC -- a leading in-home personal training and weight-loss management company serving and helping clients in Morris County, Sussex County, Passaic County, Essex County and Somerset County areas in New Jersey.

MSN Fitbie is the authoritative online destination bringing premium content from Rodale's brands, including Women's Health, Prevention, Runner's World, and Men's Health, combined with MSN Lifestyle portfolio of sites, offering advice on how to look, feel and live better by making the right diet and fitness choices.

"It's a new breakthrough for me that would help me catapult my health and fitness credibility to the next level," Yang says. "As one of trusted MSN content partners, Fitbie site could potentially reach 70 millions people around the world."

This article attempts to educate people the right mindset, diet, lifestyle and exercises to help them shrink love handle by attack unwanted belly fat from all angles. Ten toning moves are recommended to target hips, abs, obliques, and lower back.

"Regional fat storage has a lot to do with diet, lifestyle, and overall body fat level," Yang says. "In addition to overall weight loss and eating a diet rich in belly-flattening foods, keeping levels of estrogen, insulin, and cortisol in balance by managing stress and getting a good night's rest is the key to sustainable, long-term fat loss."

Yang recommends ten moves in the article that help strengthen the muscles surround waistline. Many of the moves can be done at home without any special equipment. A basic weekly workout routine include performing two or three 45-minute strength-training sessions each week, and dedicate 10 to 15 minutes to abs and core exercises. Alternate between upper-body and lower-body exercises for a total-body workout. If done right, every strength-training move involves core and abs muscles.

"You can accelerate fat loss by adding intense 15-minute cardio intervals to the end of each strength-training session or by performing 30-minute cardio interval sessions 2 days a week when you do not strength-train," Yang says. "But don't overdo it. Overtraining will increase the stress hormone cortisol, causing more fat storage than fat burning, and making you more prone to fatigue and injury."

The full article and the ten moves to slim muffin top with instructions are available at:
http://fitbie.msn.com/get-fit/new-moves-slim-your-muffin-top

About C. Carey Yang and Beyond Fitness Solutions, LLC
C. Carey Yang, Your Dream Body WorkoutXpert (TM), is a certified personal trainer and fitness boot camp instructor based in Morris County, New Jersey. He provides in-home personal fitness training, backyard boot camp, wellness and lifestyle coaching, and fitness and weight-management seminar. He specializes in helping busy, working professionals who want safe, effective workouts with maximum results in minimum time. Yang is the creator of the 6-Step Dream Body Blueprint (TM) Body Transformation System.

To learn more about lifestyle and wellness coaching, personal fitness training and nutritional counseling and to sign up for a free monthly e-zine, receive free fitness and fat loss e-books, and schedule a complimentary consultation, visit http://www.BeyondFitnessSolutions.com.

He is also available for media interviews, providing a list of tips and articles, and presenting wellness and fitness seminar. Call 973-303-2424 or email Carey at BeyondFitnessSolutions.com.

###

"Denville, NJ" "Boonton, NJ" "Montville, NJ" "Kinnelon, NJ" "Mountain Lakes, NJ" "Rockaway, NJ" "Randolph, NJ" "Succasunna, NJ" "Chester, NJ" "Morristown, NJ" 'Mendham, NJ" "Madison, NJ" "Chatham, NJ" "Short Hills, NJ" "Sparta, NJ" "Hackettstown, NJ" "Montclair, NJ" "Wayne, NJ" "Bedminister, NJ" "Basking Ridge, NJ" "Bernardsville, NJ" "Personal Trainers" "In Home Personal Training" "Morris County, NJ" "Sussex County, NJ" "Essex County, NJ" "Passaic County, NJ" "Somerset County, NJ" "Fitness Bootcamps" "Biggest Loser" "Fat Camp" "Fat Loss" "Weight Loss" "Female Personal Trainers"

Best Exercise and Diet Strategy to Burn Belly Fat and Get Rid of Love Handles

In a previous post, I blog about how to lose love handles and belly fat. If you missed it, you can read it here in more details.

Click the link => http://bit.ly/twwu9L

In this post, I’m describing in more details the 3 best exercises and their variations to help you tighten your abdominal muscles and shrink your mid section, followed by a workout video demo.

These 3 variations work the same muscle groups targeting abs and obliques with varying levels of challenge due to gravity, support or position.

Hanging Leg Raise: Hold on to pullup bar or a pair of arm straps. The easier version is to bring your knees in and upward towards your chest. The more challenging version is to keep your legs straight but knees slightly bent. Raise your legs up towards your chest. This exercise focuses more on the lower abdominal muscles. The key is keep momentum out of your hip flexors and focus on contracting your lower abs as you raise your legs and/or knees.

Hanging Leg Oblique Twist: The same basics as hanging leg raise. The difference is after you raise your knees or legs upward, immediately twist and turn to one side. This exercise focuses on your oblique muscles.

Decline Bench Abs Curl: Similar exercise to hanging leg raise working more on the lower abdominal muscles. Your shoulder and back are supported by a decline. It’s a bit easier. You can keep your knees bent (easier version) or keep your legs straight but knees slightly bent.

Decline Bench Oblique Twist: Similar exercise. As you raise your knees and legs upward, twist and turn to one side.

Weighted Cable Crunch: Usually done in kneeling position. Hold on to a straight bar or a rope with your hands by our head over a cable machine with proper weight. Keep your hands by your head/ears. Do not use your hands to curl the weight. Use your abdominal muscles to curl and move the weight downward towards the floor.

Weight Cable Oblique Twist: similarly, as you curl the weight downward towards the floor. Twist and turn to one side to work on your oblique muscles.

Watch the workout video demo for losing love handles and back fat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Q3hWnmbuU

Cheat Day Plus Alchol Equals to Fat

The dieting world never stops turning. Everytime I walk into a bookstore, there are always new dieting books greeting me. They promise the next generation breakthrough technology or tricks.

It seems that people are learning the Cheat meals or Cheat days to help them overcome craving after starvation mode of dieting. They use Cheat Days as their weekly excuse to indulge not only in their favorite foods, but also a considerable amount of alcohol.

That's a really bad idea and I know it.

The whole purpose of the Cheat Day is to upregulate leptin levels, resetting metabolism and creating a hormonal environment that is conducive to fat burning.

However, alcohol consumption pretty much cancels out all the positive benefits. In fact, alcohol consumption has been shown to acutely reduce plasma leptin levels which is in direct opposition to everything you are trying to accomplish with a Cheat Day.

In the end, Cheat Days plus Alcohol equals to Fat GAIN. That's a weekend disaster after being good in exercise and diet during the weekdays.

Does that mean that you can’t have a drink on your Cheat Day?

No, but anything more than 2 drinks will begin to have a negative effect.

Basically, if you’re feeling the effects of the alchohol you consumed, you drank too much.

When you have goals to attain, it requires some level of sacrifice. In other words, you have to give up things of lower order (priority) to receive things of higher power (priority).

We're constantly making decision all the time. In the morning, what do you choose to eat breakfast (or do you eat breakfast)?

How about lunch time? What do you eat? Where do you eat? Do you eat alone or with your friends or co-workers?

At the end of day, what do you have for dinner? After dinner, do you crash on the sofa, watch TV and munch snacks? Or do you go for a walk or some exercise?

If alcohol is more important than your fat loss goals, that is certainly a decision you’ll need to make.

Formerly Obese “Diet Guru” Reveals 37 Foods That Kills Belly Fat, Excess Water and Toxic Waste in 7 Days

“Discover The 37 Foods that KILL up to 11 Pounds
of Belly Fat, Excess Water, and ‘Toxic Waste’
In Just 7 Days... Including Forbidden Foods Like
Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and BBQ!”

Formerly Obese “Diet Guru” Reveals the Deadly Foods
that CAUSE Belly Bulge and the 37 Foods that KILL It…
Make These Simple Swaps to Your Meals and Finally
BLAST Away ALL of Your Unattractive Belly Fat FOREVER…

Who Would Have Thought That
Eating MORE Would Flatten Your Belly?!

The 3 Things KEEPING You From a Flat Belly

Doctors agree that internal belly fat is the most deadly kind of body fat there is. Studies show it dramatically increases the chance of illness such as heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, Alzheimer’s, stroke, and even depression (suicide).

And if that wasn’t bad enough, that dreaded belly bulge makes us look unattractive and it can demolish our self-esteem and confidence to boot.

But, what makes this situation even more frustrating is the fact that belly fat is considered by many to be the most stubborn and impossible weight to penetrate and burn. It’s like the “Fort Knox” of body fat. Here’s why:

PROBLEM #1: Your Hormones Are Out of Whack: Chronic stress causes your body to release a fat-storing hormone called cortisol. The more cortisol your body releases, the more belly fat you store. Plus, eating the wrong foods causes the fat-storing hormone insulin to skyrocket, while a fat-burning hormone called glucagon gets turned off. (Hello, belly fat!)

PROBLEM #2: Your Belly-Burning Furnace Is Busted: When you want to lose a lot of weight, you should cut calories for long periods of time, right?

WRONG.

Cutting calories magnifies nutrient deficiencies in your body. This results in severe cravings as your brain sends emergency “low nutrient signals” to your stomach to eat more food.

Problem is, most people end up eating more “nutrient-dead food” which causes cravings to completely spiral out of control. (If you feel hungry all the time, now you know why.)

After about a week of dieting, your body is genetically programmed to fight back by lowering the hormones responsible for keeping your metabolism humming along (like the calorie-burning thyroid hormones). At the same time, it will increase the “hunger hormone” leptin. (Double whammy.)

As a result, your weight loss will come to a screeching halt, lickity split.

At this point, to keep burning fat you’ll be forced to reduce your calories even lower, and/or do MORE exercise. (Not fun… I’ve been there.)

PROBLEM #3: Your Food Is Laced with Obesity Additives: GIANT food manufacturers make BIG bucks creating “Frankenstein foods” that are stripped of belly-burning nutrients and stuffed full of dirt-cheap, artificial preservatives that make your belly bulge.

I call these chemicals Obesity Additives and studies show:

• They cause a mineral imbalance that results in bloating and excess water weight.
• They addict us by altering brain chemicals called neurotransmitters – just like the street drugs cocaine, morphine and nicotine do!
• They cause pounds of “toxic waste” to accumulate in our digestive tracks. (Believe me, that belly bulge or “pooch” is not all belly fat.)

Those are the 3 BIG obstacles keeping you from EVER getting a flat belly. But don’t worry: there is a real SOLUTION to these MAMMOTH problems.

No other program in the world does what The 7-Day Belly Blast Diet can do… and the BEST part is, your secret weapon isn’t a starvation diet or endless exercise… it’s eating delicious FOOD all day long. Now you really can eat your way thin and see jaw-dropping results in your very first 7 days!

Introducing…



But let me warn you again, The 7-Day Belly Blast Diet is much too powerful for people who only have a few vanity pounds to lose. And this program is NOT designed for professional athletes or pro body builders who thrive on restrictive and extreme diet programs.

You see, I realized first-hand that no matter how embarrassing and painful extra body blubber is… there are still certain things the average dieter (including me), is NEVER going to put up with, NO MATTER WHAT. Like…

• Slow results
• Boring foods
• Confusing diet programs
• Not being able to eat out
• Not being able to eat your favorite foods
• Tracking calories all day long
• Or exercising non-stop like it’s your job

BORRRINNNGGGG….

Truth is, I’ve never had the time, energy or willpower needed to put up with a diet that didn’t get me fast and lasting results, or one that required me to turn my life upside-down to see the scale move, and you shouldn’t either.

That’s why I designed The 7-Day Belly Blast Diet to be the fastest and simplest program EVER created for those of us who LOVE to Eat but HATE the slow results and hunger pangs that most diets require.

Check out the 7-day belly fat blast diet program.

7 Ways to Shed THAT Stubborn Body Fat

1) Don’t diet to extremes. Reducing calories by 15-20% a day will almost exclusively burn fat while larger cuts in calories will burn a combo of muscle tissue and fat. Muscle drives the metabolism – calorie burning. If you’re currently eating 3000 calories, reduce to 2400-2550, but do so according to smart guidelines.



2) Graze all day. Professional athletes and models eat all day long yet keep their total calories under control. The grazing method – 5-6 small meals elevates the metabolism. Each time you eat, the metabolism increases, and over a 6-10 week period, that increase can parlay into another 2-3 pounds of fat loss.

3) Increase Protein. Carbs, protein and fat – are equal in their efficiency to be stored as body fat, but protein exerts a greater metabolic boosting effect than carbs or dietary fat. When calories drop, protein saves muscle which helps keep the metabolism elevated. Aim for 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight daily.

4) Play with Carbs. Carbs help retain metabolic boosting muscle yet they can stimulate fat storage. Following a modified low carb diet – staggering your carbohydrate intake is one of the most effective ways to jump start your metabolism and to burn stubborn fat fast.

5) Go Backwards. One reason fat loss comes to a halt; the body downgrades its metabolism to meet its dwindling intake of calories. The solution: dramatically increase your calorie intake once every 2-3 weeks. The one day splurge “re-sets” the metabolism by restoring thyroid levels, the calorie burning hormone that declines with dieting.

6) Skip the Late Night Carbs. Carbs eaten before bedtime are more likely to be stored as body fat so focus on lean proteins and fiber based vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and salad fixings. The lone exception: if you train late at night and your goal is to build muscle mass, you’ll need the carbs to replenish glycogen and support growth.


7) Go Fish. When calories are controlled, the inclusion of omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, trout and sardines may promote speedier fat loss. One study revealed dieters who ate fish on a daily basis lost more weight than those who ate fish just once a week (Am Journ Clin Nutr 70:817-825, 1999)

Fifteen Foods that Melt Your Belly Fat Fast

I just got done reading a report written by a top nutritionist and friend, Josh Bezoni, and I was so impressed I asked him if we could make it available to my readers today as a gift:


FIFTEEN foods that KILL belly fat fast <—— F.REE report

Josh was a former nutritionist for Bill Phillips (formerly of EAS, Muscle Media Magazine, Body-for-LIFE, and now Transformation) and he REALLY knows his stuff when it comes to foods that help you get a flat stomach fast.

FIFTEEN foods that KILL belly fat fast <—— Click Here

In the report, Josh reveals his 15 belly-blasting foods and he also exposes several so-called “healthy” foods that, believe it or not, actually INCREASE abdominal fat storage (yikes)!

Get the scoop on which foods you should immediately STOP eating, and discover the 15 you should REPLACE them with for a lean, flat stomach…

FIFTEEN foods that KILL belly fat fast <—— F.REE report

Everyday Diet for Every Woman to Get a Flat Tummy

That's THE ultimate quest from every woman: "How to get rid of my belly fat and have a flat tummy?"

This thinking is just a myth and is all in the mind. You have to separate truth from myths in order to succeed in your fitness regiment. Know the facts then apply them.

You cannot continue to eat all types of food then end your day with a number of crunches to work off the fatty foods. This is just building fat on top of your muscles.

Some important facts to consider:

1. You can’t lose fat in just one part of your body since it is evenly distributed. Losing the fat must also be even.

2. You can’t crunch your way to a flat stomach without cardio exercises and a proper diet.

3. You will not gain a flat stomach if you have a layer of fat covering your stomach muscles.

4. By doing cardio exercises, you will burn fat all over your body, reducing the fat covering your stomach and enabling your stomach muscles show.

5. Cardio exercises burn more calories than stomach exercises like abdominal muscle w
orkouts and crunches. When you do cardio exercises, your body burns calories, which will result in you losing overall fat, stomach fat included.

6. The key to flattening your tummy is to increase your body’s metabolism so that it can effectively get rid of that excess body fat. A weight loss programme is the key to slimming your mid-section. Remember:

To flatten the tummy, you need to lose the fat covering your stomach muscles. The best way to lose belly fat is by changing your eating habits so your body stores less fat, and doing cardio exercises to burn existing stomach fat. Finish up with the crunches.

Here a few tips

• Exercise all you want but watch what you eat. As long you eat sugar and fat, your belly will stay flabby. Concentrate on eating fresh fruits, vegetables and lean proteins at each meal.

• The general rule is to cut kilos and calories. Stay away from fatty foods, high calorie condiments such as salad dressings, cookies and cakes, and eliminate sugary drinks.

• Beer bellies are not a myth. Avoid or drink alcohol in moderation as it makes you gain weight around your mid-section.. The sugar in alcohol gets stored as fat. If you want to drink beer, limit your consumption to one a day or stick to wine.

• Get your heart-rate up by doing moderate cardio-vascular exercises at least four to five times a week. This works your heart and boosts your metabolism to burn excess fat and calories. Exercises such as swimming, jogging, biking, brisk walking and even walking uphill are good for you.

• Twenty-five good, quality abdominal crunches are better than 100 half done ones. Perform four sets of 20 to 25 solid crunches while resting for about 90 seconds in between sets. Vary the exercises with ball crunches, reverse leg lifts, bicycle cycling, captain’s chair leg raise, full vertical crunch and plunks on elbows and toes. While these exercises won’t help you lose fat around your mid-section, they strengthen and tone your abdominal muscles, which will help amplify the flat stomach look.

• Drink plenty of water as staying well hydrated is the key to overall health. Water plays an added advantage when you are trying to tone up the tummy.

• Another key to burning fat is to keep your blood sugar stable. Eat small meals and healthy snacks on frequent occasions, like every two to three hours.