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Losing Belly Fat: How Can I Do It? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Trying to lose belly fat can be frustrating. The Fitness Nerd takes a look at the best ways to get rid of belly fat and keep your stomach flat … for good.

Hi Fitness Nerd,

I have a question about losing belly fat, and getting in better shape overall. I’m 24 years old and 5′ 7″ if that helps.

So here is my story… All through college, I never weighed more than 145 lbs. (that was at my heaviest). I was competing in the Miss America pageant system, walking back and forth to class, etc. But eating the same as I do now. While this helped keep my belly fat in check — I never really was able to achieve that truly flat belly that I was looking for.

Two years later, I weigh just under 170 lbs. I don’t look that heavy, all the weight is in my buttocks and belly. I went on a special eating program to get ready for the Miss USA pageant a few months ago and was very strict with it for 3 months, brown rice, grilled chicken, eggs, sweet potatoes, green beans, salad, yogurt, and lots of water plus cardio and very small weights every day. I GAINED weight!! (about 10 pounds).

So I got very, very frustrated and quit all together. Now I have a job where I sit at work all the time, and my hours are unusual so it’s difficult for me to workout all the time. Also, I am frustrated with how I look in clothes, really want to lose the belly fat and am ready to do something to change that. I typically just do cardio at the gym, but not as religiously as I could. I get bored with it easily. I do like lifting weights though. Also, I had a personal trainer, but just wasn’t making the progress I wanted. So I stopped that as well.

My diet is pretty off - I still eat a lot of grilled chicken and brown rice (just because I love it). But, my biggest issue is that I don’t eat fruit or veggies at all - except select salads, and green beans. I eat a lot of turkey and cheese sandwiches, pizza, and drink a good bit of Coke.  I’m also kind of a picky eater. It’s time for me to change, I just want something that I know will work.

How do I get rid of the belly fat for good?  Can I lose belly belly fat, or am I just a lost cause? Thanks for your help!! (Elle — Alabama)

Elle, losing belly fat is right at the top of the list for most people when it comes to fitness goals. So you’re definitely not alone.

The challenge, of course, is that there are no easy, fast, ”silver bullet” solutions to losing belly fat, regardless of what all the “Belly Fat Diet” ads say.

If you are looking for 1 way to lose belly fat, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Also, if you’re looking for the best way to lose belly fat fast, I don’t want to get your hopes up. This is going to take some work and changes on your part. But if you want to succeed …. you will.

If you really want to reduce belly fat, it really takes a combination of diet and exercise — and the most effective combination will vary considerably from person-to-person, as you’ve learned first-hand. While improvements to diet and lots of cardio might help one person get rid of their belly fat, others do better with less cardio, better diet and more weight training.

So the trick is finding what works for you. You can either accomplish this with the help of a good personal trainer (which, unfortunately, you may not have had)  or you can try to go it on your own, based on what you learn about yourself and what works.

The good news is that you aren’t hopeless, and there are some pretty effective way to lose belly fat, starting today.

Continue reading Losing Belly Fat: How Can I Do It? | Ask The Fitness Nerd…

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Weight Loss Plateau: Diagnosing & Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau

Asking yourself “How do I get out of a weight loss plateau?” Try these ten tricks to jumpstart your fat loss and get back on track.

The weight loss plateau.

It happens to everyone, regardless of their level of physical fitness or training experience.  For weeks or even months, the fat and pounds just seem to be melting off. You’re riding high and seeing the fruits of your labor. Maybe you’ve lost a couple inches in your waist or dropped a dress size or two. The gym doesn’t seem like such a chore anymore. Life is good.

And then suddenly, everything stops.  

The scale is no longer your friend, but instead transforms itself into a daily source of frustration.

As far as you can tell, nothing has changed. You’ve still been eating healthy, exercising frequently (maybe even following your regular routine to the “T”) and keeping your portions under control. Yet something has changed: You’ve stopped progressing. And it’s driving you crazy. Even worse, it’s de-motivating you.

Welcome to the dreaded plateau: The bane of everyone from athletes, to fitness models to average people who are just trying to lose their gut, get ready for a holiday cruise or fit into that pair of skinny jeans.

The plateau doesn’t discriminate: Everyone has to deal with it eventually, and it doesn’t just apply to weight loss, but all kinds of other things, including how much you can lift during resistance or weight training, the amount of muscle you are able to add to your frame — or if you are a runner or biker — your distance or speed. 

And what makes the plateau particularly vexing is that it usually hits when you when you feel most unstoppable.

Weight Loss Plateaus: What’s the Cause?

Weight loss plateaus are typically caused by one of two things (and sometimes, a combination of the two):

1. A metabolic adaptation to your current diet and exercise regimen
2. Accumulated changes in your existing exercise and eating routine that are causing you to eat more or burn less calories with exercise, even though you aren’t aware of it.

Let’s take a look a each of these causes in detail.  

Continue reading Weight Loss Plateau: Diagnosing & Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau…

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