Thursday, January 20, 2011

Removing Your Belly Fat

While body fat is generally unsightly, belly fat is the worst. It is also said to be the most unhealthy. This is because visceral fat that is in the abdominal cavity can surround the vital internal organs. The heart is especially endangered by this. This kind of fat also excretes inflammatory substances that are harmful to the body. The risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia, lung problems, diabetes and migraine, among others, were found to be significantly increased by belly fat. It should not, therefore, be only your vanity that should motivate you to blast that belly fat. Your health should also be a major factor.

Belly fat can be most efficiently burned through cardio exercises. Cardio workouts use large muscle groups in continuous movements. It is necessary for you to raise your heart rate to its maximum level and have it stay in that fat burning zone for at least 12 minutes or at most an hour. This should be done a minimum of three times a week. To maximize fat loss, try to achieve an hour of cardio workouts every day. You should also do specific exercises to develop and tone your abdominal muscles aside from fat burning cardio workouts. Crunches, reverse crunches and seated bicycle exercises are some of these.

To lose belly fat, you also need to follow the proper diet. Your metabolic rate and your body's ability for fat burning will only be significantly decreased if you should ever attempt to fast. Instead, you should just avoid overeating and should eliminate all unhealthy fats, sugar and starchy food. To avoid bloating, limit your intake of sodium. You must consume only lean protein, high fiber complex carbohydrates like vegetables and fruits, and healthy fats like olive oil. Eat six small meals spaced three hours apart throughout the day. This will maintain a consistently high level for your metabolism. By not eating three hours before bedtime you can make sure that you do not leave unmetabolized food in your body overnight.

The third thing you need to regulate to lose your belly fat is sleep. If you lack sleep, your body's hormone production gets messed up. You could be led to a binge after your body makes too much ghrelin which causes hunger, too much cortisol which causes cravings for carbohydrates and fats, and too little leptin which causes feelings of satiety. By making sure you get eight hours of sleep every night you can avoid this situation. You also require deep sleep to enable your body to repair and build the muscles in your abdomen. Firm abdominal muscles act like a natural girdle. The added muscles also boost your metabolism.

You can lose your belly fat through exercise, diet and sleep. You owe it to yourself to make this effort. You will not only look much better but you will also significantly cut down on your health risks.

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Omron HR-100C Heart Rate Monitor