What we all want is that magic secret, the fool proof solution to our belly fat problem. Is there a secret pill or food we can eat that will eliminate belly fat for good? Unfortunately there is no magic secret that will banish stomach fat for good. But there are techniques you can use that will promote overall health and help you lose weight and feel better!

As much as you don’t want to admit it, you know that what you put in your body either gets burned as fuel or stored as fat. So if you put more in than you burn, you will build fat. And of course fat never seems to get stored in the places we want it to! It tends to take up residence on our thighs, hips, and stomach areas.

It stands to reason that if you burn more than you take in you will lose weight. So diet and exercise have to play a part in any fat lose program you want to try. Don’t believe the hype, you cannot eat whatever you want, laze around the house and lose weight.

However, there are a few herbs and natural foods that you can add to your diet that will promote energy and help burn fat. Green tea is getting a lot of attention lately because of that fact. Green tea is full of antioxidants which will help rid your body of toxins. Many times these toxins are causing your body to hold on to fat, so by purging them it is possible to jump start your fat loss. Green tea also helps to prevent heart disease and some cancers. Plus, many people get an energy boost from using green tea. The health benefits make this a great supplement to try!

There is a simple thing you can do to reduce the appearance of belly fat. Check your posture! Look in the mirror. Do you sway your back? Are your shoulders rounded forward and your stomach punched out because of the sway in your back? We tend to get lazy in our posture and this causes the lower back muscles to weaken. Weak lower back muscles contribute to weak abdominal muscles – it is a vicious cycle! Practice holding your shoulder back and tucking your stomach in. It may seem awkward and difficult at first, but in time it will be second nature. Good posture is key in looking slim and trim!

While there is no magic pill to instantly remove belly fat, you can lose the fat through sensible diet and exercise. Take green tea in some form for an energy boost and remember to check your posture! Stick with it and you will become belly fat free! Author Resource:- Tara enjoys taking the time for fun activities with her friends and family. Since having kids, she understandsstubborn belly fat. Tara has worked hard to get fit and lose weight. She is a firm believer ingreen tea and weight loss, you can do it!
]]> http://midfit.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/how-to-lose-belly-fat/feed/ 0 Matt Jack http://midfit.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/trying-to-eat-less-becomes-more-important-to-fend-off-middle-age-weight-gain/ http://midfit.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/trying-to-eat-less-becomes-more-important-to-fend-off-middle-age-weight-gain/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:45:28 +0000 mgjack http://midfit.wordpress.com/?p=19 ]]> ScienceDaily (Jan. 3, 2009) — Lots of experts disagree over the seemingly obvious notion of keeping weight off by trying to eat less – a debate that centers on whether the practice backfires, leading to binging and weight gain. Now a new study shows that practicing restraint becomes more important with age. Women who participated in the study had more than twice the risk of substantial weight gain if they did not become more restrained in their eating. “Some suggest that restrained eating is not a good practice,” said Brigham Young University professor Larry Tucker, the study’s lead author. “Given the environmental forces in America’s food industry, not practicing restraint is essentially a guarantee of failure.” The study followed 192 middle-aged women for three years and tracked information on lifestyle, health and eating habits. Their analysis revealed that women who did not become more restrained with eating were 138 percent more likely to put on 6.6 pounds or more. Columbia University researcher Lance Davidson, who was not involved with the analysis, said the findings highlight an important principle of weight management. “Because the body’s energy requirements progressively decline with age, energy intake must mirror that decrease or weight gain occurs,” said Davidson, a research fellow at Columbia’s Obesity Research Center. “Dr. Tucker’s observation that women who practice eating restraint avoid the significant weight gain commonly observed in middle age is an important health message.” Tucker says watching what you eat is not about physical appearance – it’s a direct investment in your health. “Weight gain and obesity bring a greater risk of diabetes and a number of other chronic diseases,” Tucker said. “Eating properly is a skill that needs to be practiced.” The study will be published January 2 in the American Journal of Health Promotion. Professor Tucker’s Tips for Better Eating: – Record what you eat and how much – Put less food on your plate – Eat more fruits and vegetables; the food pyramid recommends at least five servings per day

Maybe you’ve been reading the health care bill in your spare time. Then perhaps you can answer this question:

If Congress makes history and puts a bill on President Barack Obama’s desk by Christmas, how long before the uninsured get medical coverage?

If you said three years or more, you’d be right. Yet many people don’t realize that to keep costs down, lawmakers made compromises that might not appeal to consumers.

“There’s going to be a long period of great expectations and very modest deliveries,” said economist Robert Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute public policy center. That’s assuming Democrats prevail.

Some questions and answers on the House-passed bill and the version the Senate will begin debating in the week ahead; both measures were written by Democrats:

Q: How many people would be covered?

A: The Senate bill would cover 94 percent of eligible Americans under age 65; under the House bill, it’s 96 percent.

That’s a major improvement over the 83 percent now covered, but the safety net would have holes.

Some 16 million eligible people would remain uninsured under the Senate bill and 12 million under the House bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s not counting illegal immigrants, who would not be eligible for government assistance under either bill.

Both bills would eventually require Americans to get health insurance, or face fines.

Q: Why don’t lawmakers just provide coverage for everyone?

A: Part of the reason is it would cost more, at least $250 billion over 10 years. The president wants to keep the total cost to about $900 billion. But it means workers and their families would be more than twice as likely to be uninsured as older people, virtually all of whom are now covered by Medicare.

Q: How affordable is the new middle-class coverage going to be?

A: It depends.

Most people would remain in their employer plans. Self-employed people and those working in small businesses would be able to buy coverage through a new insurance marketplace, with government subsidies available for many.

The aid is substantial for lower-income households, but drops off rapidly for the middle class.

Under the House bill, a family of four headed by a 45-year-old making $44,000 a year would pay roughly $2,400 in premiums, or $200 a month, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

A similar family making $66,000 would pay about $6,580 in premiums, or about $550 a month.

That’s a bargain compared to current rates, which can top $1,000 a month, but it still may be too much for some family budgets. About one-third of the uninsured say they’d be able to pay $200 a month in premiums, and only 7 percent say they can afford $400.

Q: Twenty-year-olds don’t have many health problems. Would they be required to get coverage?

A: You bet.

Unmarried children could stay on their parents’ plan until age 27 in the House bill, 26 in the Senate plan. That change would start in 2010.

But those buying coverage for themselves could be in for sticker shock. Insurers now charge the young and healthy much less than middle-age people who are more likely to get sick. Under both bills, age-related premiums would be limited. So the young would pay more than they do now.

“The people who are going to do best are older people with a problematic medical history,” said health policy expert Paul Ginsburg, of the Center for Studying Health System Change.

Q: These bills are going to ban pre-existing conditions, right?

A: Yes, but not immediately.

Both bills would forbid insurers from denying coverage to people in poor health or charging them more. That would happen in 2013 under the House bill, and 2014 in the Senate’s.

The reason for the delay is that it would be unfair to require insurers to take all applicants right away. The sick would sign up, but healthy people would probably wait until they faced the threat of government fines. Such a situation could raise premiums for everyone.

Q: So if I have a health care problem, I might still have to wait three years to four years for coverage?

A: At Obama’s request, lawmakers tried to take care of that by setting aside $5 billion for temporary “high-risk” insurance pools to provide affordable coverage for people whose health is frail.

But there’s a problem with the patch.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the money would run out in 2011 unless Congress pumps in more cash.

Q: Older people are concerned about what’s going to happen to Medicare. Should they be?

A: Even though cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers are paying for much of the cost of covering the uninsured, benefits under traditional Medicare aren’t reduced.

But those who’ve signed up for private insurance plans through Medicare Advantage could lose valuable extra benefits, according to the budget office.

For years, the government has been paying the private plans more than it costs traditional Medicare to deliver similar services. The plans used the money to provide extra benefits — mainly lower copayments and deductibles.

Both bills offer cheaper prescription drugs to those who fall into the “doughnut hole,” the Medicare coverage gap. The House bill gradually would eliminate the gap. Both bills also provide better coverage for preventive care.

On the Net:

Comparing the bills: http://tinyurl.com/yeshhgv

IT looks like a convict’s ball with a handle instead of a chain, dates back to 18th-century Russia and has helped one happy Dublin woman drop two wedding-dress sizes.

Meet the kettlebell. Once the preserve of musclebound strongmen, this latest fitness trend is now a favourite of health-conscious celebrities such as Penelope Cruz, Jessica Biel, Matthew McConaughey and our own TV presenter Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh, who says the training is a health boost.

“My energy levels have risen and I feel toned all over,” Ms Ni Chofaigh smiles. “And with a group it’s more fun — except if you laugh you might drop a kettlebell on your toe.”

Like many women, I don’t know much about weightlifting and give it a miss at the gym, where it seems to be the domain of posturing men in strange belts.

I do have a kettlebell at home, but so far the eight-kilogram ball has made an excellent paperweight.

But Christmas is coming, and it’s time to make a pre-emptive strike, so with visions of a butt like Biel’s and the curves of Cruz I blow off the dust and grab this weight. I’m told this is a good workout to get into at home, if you know what you’re doing.

“It’s the ultimate piece of home-gym equipment — one piece that will train the whole body and really strengthens your core and back,” says Shane Nicoletti, of Kettlebells Ireland.

But despite his enthusiasm and my attempts to follow the routines on some borrowed DVDs of kettlebell workouts, the results aren’t too impressive.

This isn’t helped by me noticing all the dust on the floor as I bend to lift the weight, even though I tell myself fitness is more important than housekeeping. Then the sight of all those grunting fellas on the screen makes me thirsty and it’s time for a cuppa. And of course that scone just has to be eaten or it will go stale.

The moral is that while home workouts are good for the motivated, it can be hard to stay focused when you’re solo so it’s worth signing up for a class.

Kettlebells Ireland is a good place to start, and they will point you to a national line-up of qualified trainers so you can find someone in your area.

“It’s best to start out with simple exercises,” says Shane Nicoletti (39) who gained his kettlebell expertise in the US.

So begins my inauguration into a series of tough exercises with cute names like the snatch and the windmill.

Most dreaded is the Turkish get-up — a cruel torture where you sit on the ground with your leg tucked under you, seagull-like, and then scramble up, one hand raised above your head holding the kettlebell. This doesn’t sound too bad until you’re told you can’t use your spare hand to push yourself up for balance.

Kettlebells are more challenging than hefting barbells or free weights, because the weight is much less static. Promoters say you use up to 600 muscles, including those in your arms, shoulders and core stabilisers, to maintain balance because the centre of mass is offset from the handle.

Mr Nicoletti demonstrates the snatch with a graceful flick of the wrist. It involves squatting, swinging the bell up from between your legs and spinning the kettlebell as you reach up your arm and stand up straight. The effort of the workout gets your heart pumping and your legs shaking.

Mr Nicoletti says a growing number of sports clubs, including GAA, soccer and rugby, are incorporating kettlebell routines into their training.

Supporters claim a well-conditioned person can burn up to 1,500 calories an hour, compared with 300-400 calories an hour for normal weightlifting or an aerobics class.

“One of my clients had to have her wedding dress taken in two sizes after training with me coming up to her wedding day, but she wasn’t complaining,” says Mr Nicoletti.

Many of the kettlebell workouts are held outdoors, including during the winter months. “But don’t worry, you’ll be warm within two minutes, and that’s a promise,” says one trainer.

It’s a whole new spin on putting the kettle on.

- Amanda Phelan

Irish Independent