23rd September, 2015
By Sharon Jane Akinyemi
Is that all Mummy? “Oh yes. That is all my dear daughter”. That was actually the end of a very interesting discussion between my daughter and I . She has been eating late in recent times, so she really wanted to know how seriously bad it was to do late night meals. But come to think of it, from experience though, it’s not a taboo to eat late at night, rather than bother about the eating time, we should focus more on the type of food. It’s not necessary to avoid eating in the evening hours to lose flab. In fact, the right night-time meal can often positively affect your fat-burning results.
Abdominals, a set collectively known as the core, includes the many interconnected muscles that run up the back and stretch down to the butt and the front and inner thighs.
The trick, as always, is choosing the RIGHT foods before bed, and knowing which foods those are. Here are some simple “rules” to creating the ultimate pre-bed meal:
1. Avoid carbs and insulin. Because consuming carbohydrates will result in a significant insulin release (which will in turn put the breaks on fat-burning), carbs are ill-advised for a pre-bed meal. Carbs are also much more easily stored as fat in the evening hours when metabolism is naturally slowing in preparation for sleep. Besides, you have very little opportunity to burn off that energy when consuming carbs at night — sleep isn’t a very calorically expensive activity! In addition to carbs, certain animal proteins have been shown to yield a significant insulin response as well, such as red meat and certain fish. While these protein foods are OK for a pre-bed meal, there are better choices, like those mentioned below.
2. Choose slow digesting proteins. Slow digesting proteins, like white meat proteins such as turkey and chicken, are great night-time meal choices as they digest slowly and fail to produce a significant insulin response.
Another great choice is the milk protein casein, found in some protein foods and also in cheese. Casein coats the stomach, digests slowly, and provides quality nutrition to your muscles over several hours…very ideal as a pre-bedtime protein source!
3. Add fat. Quality, healthy fats such as nuts, oils, and nut butters are great additions to a pre-bedtime meal as they will help to further slow gastric emptying and digestion while increasing fullness and satiety so you don’t wind up snacking all night long.
Just follow these 3 simple rules for night-time snacking (slow digesting protein, low carb, add fat) and you’ll be snacking good while losing belly flab.
Any successful fat loss program is going to take you out of your comfort zone, both in the gym and in the kitchen. Effective fat loss workouts are generally energy depleting and physically and mentally taxing and best paired with a nutritional plan of attack that’s filled with healthy, real foods (no processed, fast food crap), which leaves you in a slight calorie deficit.
To maximally reduce your body fat percent, you’re going to have to start in the kitchen. You may have heard the saying that abs are made in the kitchen, which is true – you can lose fat and not even pick up a single weight or run a single step. But in order to build muscle, increase muscular strength and cardiovascular fitness, you’re going to have to include physical exercise. So, to stimulate as much fat loss as possible, your program will consist of 3 full body workouts per week (alternating between Workout A and Workout B) with 2 days of cardio and 2 days off.
Now, if you really want to get the cutting-edge on reducing belly fat, you’ll be happy to know that there’s a brand new way to burn belly fat that has been shown in more than a DOZEN research studies to help you burn fat and slim your waist at an accelerated rate. Aerobic exercise such as moderate to high intensity walking could handle belly fat too.Two women go walking. One finishes quickly; the other takes her time. They each burn about 400 calories. So who sheds more belly fat? The obvious answer: It’s a tie. But a surprising new study shows that the one speed walking actually loses more.
Researchers from the University of Virginia found that women who did three shorter, fast-paced walks a week (plus two longer, moderate-paced ones) lost 5 times more belly fat than those who simply strolled at a moderate speed 5 days a week, even though both groups burned exactly the same number of calories (400) per workout. Those power walking also dropped more than 2 inches from their waistlines, pared about 3 times more fat from their thighs, shed 4 times more total body fat, and lost almost 14 kg over 16 weeks—all without dieting!
The improvements didn’t stop there. The high-intensity exercisers lost about 3 times more visceral fat—the dangerous belly fat that wraps around organs such as the liver and kidneys and has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. “Vigorous exercise raises levels of fat-burning hormones,” says lead researcher Arthur Weltman, PhD, director of the exercise physiology laboratory at the university. It also increases afterburn (the number of calories your body uses postexercise as it recovers) by about 47% compared with lower-intensity workouts.
So how do you make all this science work for you? Start with Body Confidence 12-week progressive walking plan, which includes both shorter, high-intensity workouts and longer, moderate-paced ones. Add in the Flat Belly sculpting moves to firm your ever-shrinking middle. In just 2 months, you could walk off 1 or 2 sizes
Currently am on a three months challenge and the training has given me more self-discipline and convinced me that other things in life probably aren’t as bad as they first seem, either. It also reminded me that I actually like being outside; how good it feels to breathe deep, relaxed breaths; and that sweating is quite nice when accompanied by a feeling of accomplishment.
Doing something for myself is good for my family! The guilt I felt over not spending all my time with my family was completely unfounded.
I want to be fit, not skinny. I am in the best shape of my life, even though I have still not attained an ideal weight, I’ve lost 10kg so far, I’ve increased my endurance, and I look more toned than ever before.
You’re never too old. Walking keeps my fitness program fresh–turns out I can do a lot more than I thought I could.
You’ll also get flatter belly—by following these tips:
*Tighten up. Throughout each move, you should feel a tightening, similar to zipping up a pair of tight jeans, from one hip bone to the other.
*Exhale deeply. To help strengthen your abs and protect your lower back, be sure to exhale thoroughly with every breath.
*Lie faceup with your left knee bent, left foot flat on the floor, and right leg extended toward the ceiling. Reach toward the ceiling with your left arm and keep your right arm down by your side.
*Without moving your hips or shoulders, open your raised leg to the right and raised arm to the left. Now, concentrating on your abs, return your raised leg and arm to the center. Do 10–12 rep.
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