5 tips to lose weight and get toned for summer

We’re well into February my friends! You have about 16 weeks left before it’s tank-top and bikini weather. Is your body summer-ready? If you still needs to drop a few pounds before the warm weather hits, here are a few things you can do to get the ball rolling.

Follow these 5 steps to really get the ball rolling on those goals of yours. Burn fat, build muscle, tone and define your body.

Throw out your junk food

             – If there is junk food within your reach, chances are you’ll reach for it! Get rid of any foods that are barriers to your goal. Fill your fridge and pantry with healthy foods and snacks such as fruits, nuts and yogurt.

Focus on compound movements

             – Focus on exercises that work more than one muscle at once. Compound movements are exercises such as squats, dead lifts, chest presses, shoulder presses and lunges.  Not only do you develop more muscles at once, you burn more calories doing these types of exercises.

Cardio Cardio Cardio

             – Cardio exercise is a great way to burn off any excess calories you may be carrying around. Don’t make the mistake of doing only cardio. While it’s a great way to burn calories, it won’t give you nice shape and tone – that’s done through weight training. Try to go as hard as you can for as long as you can; don’t pay too much attention to the heart rate zone on cardio equipment, it’s an outdated way to measure how hard you can work. Try to work at a good pace where you’re breathing heavily but not quite out of breath.

Lots of water

             -This explanation is really an oversimplification because water has so many benefits with regard to fat loss but I’ll talk about two of them. 1) It keeps your body, especially muscles, hydrated. Dehydration is the number one cause of muscle cramps. 2) It helps to flush out unwanted toxins from your body and helps with your weight loss goals.

Eat Smarter

My next article is going to be a huge discussion about fat loss and why people refuse to wake up and follow what works as opposed as to what is said to work. Eating is a huge part of that article. Here’s the short version:

Eat Breakfast, have a snack between lunch and another between dinner. AGAIN, healthy snacks include: Fruits, unsalted nuts, yogurt, cottage cheese and veggies.

If you don’t eat enough during the day, you’re more likely to overeat at night. You’re also more likely to settle for something quick and unhealthy because you’re too hungry to take the time to prepare something healthy.  

Don’t know which snacks are healthy?

Here are a few healthy snacking options that will help you on your weight loss journey:

Healthy Snacks:

Raw Almonds

20 almonds
Calories: 139

Mandarin

Serving shown: 180g, 1 medium & 1 small.
Calories: 95

Apple

Serving shown: 185g / 6.5oz
Calories: 96

Banana

Serving shown: 1 medium banana – 118g
Calories: 105

Grapes

Serving shown: 215g / 7.6oz
Calories: 148

Tuna

Serving shown: 85g / 3oz
Calories: 99

Popcorn

Serving shown: 2 cups
Calories: 62 (air-popped)
Calories:110 (oil-popped)
No condiments added.

Baby Carrots

Serving shown: 170g / 6oz
Calories: 60

Celery & Hummus

Serving shown: 40g / 1.4oz hummus
Calories: 108

Note: Buy celery pre-cut and pre-washed. Goes well with many other dips.

Cherry Tomatoes

Serving shown: 150g / 1 Cup
Calories: 27

Whole-grain Crispbread with Cottage Cheese

Serving shown: 1 cracker + ~45g (1.5oz) cottage cheese (light)
Calories: 70

Note: Aim for crispbreads or crackers that are completely whole grain and have a minimal amount of oil.

Bean Salad

80g / 2.8oz
Calories: 90

It’s not an easy road, but it’s definitely possible. Stick to these 5 rules and you will lose belly fat, build muscle and tone your body well before summer hits!

The Benefits of Berries:

We all know that fruits are good for us but we usually don’t know why. Well I’m going to be discussing the health benefits of many popular fruits so you’ll know exactly what you’re getting the next time you help yourself to a specific fruit. Today I want to fill you in on the benefits of adding berries to your daily diet.

The Goods on Berries:

One cup of strawberries are packed with over 100 mg of vitamin C, nearly as much as a cup of orange juice. Vitamin C is important for immune system function and it helps to strengthen connective tissue. With only 53 calories, Strawberries also add a bit of potassium, magnesium. calcium and folate.

A cup of blueberries also has a fair amount of vitamin C, minerals and phytochemicals with less than 85 calories. Cranberries, with less 45 calories, has the same amount of vitamin C as blueberries. One cup of raspberries offers vitamin C and potassium for 64 calories.

Berries are beautifully coloured, but aside from looking pretty, the pigments that give berries their blue and red hues are also good for your health. Berries contain phytochemicals and flavonoids that help to prevent some forms of cancer. Cranberries and blueberries contain a substance that can prevent bladder infections. Adding blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and strawberries to your diet can help to reduce the risk of several cancers. In addition, blueberries and raspberries contain lutein, which is important for healthy vision.

Buying Berries:

 Choose colourful, ripe and firm berries with no dark or mushy spots. Berries can also be found in the frozen section of your grocery store. When they are thawed, they will not be as firm as freshly picked berries, but they will still be delicious and good for you. For the freshest berries, try farmers’ markets that offer berries harvested that same day. Some farms allow you to pick your own berries.

What’s great is that you get all these great antioxidants and vitamins in very few calories! So you don’t have to eat a whole lot of berries to enjoy the benefits of them.

Eat Berries!

Stay Strong,

Kam.

1) Quick Fix obsession

We’re searching for that miracle pill; that next big new product that will guarantee instant results! Unfortunately, there is not, and never will be, any such product. There is no quick fix solution to getting rid of stubborn belly fat. One reason why so many get stuck with belly fat, is because they invest so much time looking for that quick fix.

Just remember, you didn’t gain that fat belly over night so don’t expect to lose it overnight. To get rid of those love handles, you need to develop a proper meal plan (not a ‘DIET’), you need to weight train regularly (3-4 days a week) and you need to get some extra cardio increase the amount of calories you burn.

There is no quick-fix, but if you follow your meal plan and exercise regularly, you will get rid of your stomach fat sooner than you think. You can expect to see visible changes in as little as two weeks, if you are very disciplined. People generally see results around the 3 – 4 week mark.

Remember, easy come, easy go. When you lose weight using fat burners and other diet products, your body doesn’t recognize the changes as permanent changes. This is especially true when your weight loss is very rapid; your body is just waiting for you to stop so it can return to its original weight. When your fat loss is steady and continuous over time your body has time to adapt and recognize that the changes you’re making are permanent.

The benefit of this is that if for some reason you happen to miss a few weeks from the gym, you won’t lose all of your progress. You can take a vacation with the security of knowing that you won’t gain 5 pounds just because you haven’t exercised in a few weeks.

2) Unrealistic expectations

I love “The Biggest Loser”. It’s a great show and a good source of inspiration for people who need to lose a lot of weight. However, shows like this make my job as a trainer more difficult because clients see the show and then come to me expecting to lose 10 pounds a week for the next 4 weeks. This would be a reasonable goal if you were 400 pounds. However if you’re like most people you probably only need to lose between 10 to 30 pounds. The contestants on the biggest loser lose so much weight in a week for a few reasons:

They haven’t had any real physical activity in years; they have very inactive lifestyles. Therefore, the moment they do anything more than usual, their body responds. For example, taking the stairs might feel like nothing for you, but if you weigh 300 pounds, it might feel like you’ve just run a marathon. Since walking up the stairs is something your body is used to, your body won’t burn as much calories as it would if you were heavy and you never used the stairs. In other words, it takes less work for an overweight person to burn more calories.

They have more weight to lose than you. The saying is true: “The last 10 pounds are the hardest to lose.” When those 300 pounders get close to their ideal weight, it’s going to be just as hard for them as well. However, when you’re very heavy, you have more ‘excess’ calories to burn; someone lighter has much less to burn.

The people on those shows are isolated from the real world. They don’t have any distractions! They only have one task – to LOSE WEIGHT. I’m pretty sure it would be easy for anyone to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time if they had absolutely no other responsibilities. You, unfortunately, don’t have the luxury of putting your life on hold. You still need to wake up early, go to work, prepare lunch, commute in rush hour traffic, take your kids to and from school, finish up paper work, etc. Furthermore, the contestants on shows like that also have a full time staff to cater to their every need – trainers, doctors, nutritionists, life coaches, etc.

Now I’m not saying to lower your expectations, but you need to put things in perspective. You’re not going to lose 10 pounds a week. You might be lucky to lose 5 pounds a week but that won’t last forever either. I don’t believe in looking at a scale, it is not an accurate indicator of progress because it can’t measure a lot of things. However, if you’re obsessed with numbers, a realistic weight loss goal would be to aim for 1.5 to 2lbs a week. Everyone is different, some might lose 2 per week, others might lose 3; it varies from individual to individual. You are not going to lose your belly fat if you have unrealistic goals.

3) Diet denial

A lot of people suffer from this syndrome, and as long as you hold on to it, the longer it will take to get a flat stomach. You need to admit to yourself that your diet is not where it needs to be. A lot of people get caught up in saying, “My diet isn’t bad!” But, is your diet “Great?”

If you want a seriously great body, then you need a seriously great diet! And I’m not talking about stupid Atkins’ diet or the Juice diet or whatever other nonsense is out there. I mean a healthy, structured meal plan that gives you all the nutrients you need. If you just eat ‘OK’, then that’s the body you should expect – an ‘ok’ body. OK bodies don’t turn heads, great bodies do. Admit that your diet isn’t cutting it and take the necessary steps to really improve. If you can get this in check, losing your belly fat all of sudden isn’t a matter of ‘if’, it’s a matter of ‘when’.

It’s not hard to have a great diet; you just need to adapt a healthy mindset when it comes to eating. Instead of thinking about what specific food to eat, try to live by some general guidelines.

Here are some suggestions:

No late night eating

Cut down or eliminate alcohol consumption (empty calories)

Cut down or eliminate sugary snacks

Cut down or eliminate sodas

Eat fried foods no more than once a week

4) Unfocused goals

On that rare occasion when a light bulb goes off in your head and you come to the realization that you are ready to change your body, don’t set unfocused goals! An unfocused goal is something that is too vague you can’t measure. It’s great to say, “I want to lose my belly fat and get nice flat stomach.” However, you can’t measure ‘lose my belly fat.’

A lot of my new clients tell me things like, “I want to be tight and toned,” and, “I want to be fit.” My job is a trainer is to turn that into something more specific. Therefore, I try to get them to say, “I want to lose 4 inches off my stomach by April 5th.” Now you have a measurable goal, and more importantly, a deadline! Not having a specific goal can be dangerous because you will eventually feel like you’re running while blind-folded, with no real direction.

Consequently, after some time with no way to measure if you’re on the right track, you will become discouraged, de-motivated and ultimately, DEFEATED. You will then kick your gym bag in the corner…again – adding this attempt to lose weight to the list of other failed attempts.

Save yourself the heartache and set specific goals for yourself, and set an unchangeable deadline.

5) Tortoise versus hare syndrome

For those of you who don’t know the story of the tortoise and the hare, here’s a quick recap: The hare challenges the tortoise to a race because he knows that he is much faster. The tortoise agrees and as the race starts, the hare sprints off to a huge lead. After building up a big lead and seeing no signs of the slow tortoise, the hare decided to take a little nap, confident that he could rest and wake up before the tortoise caught up. However, the hare fell into a deep sleep, tired from the hard sprint earlier. The tortoise, kept moving at the same pace until he eventually caught up to the hare and passed him. By the time the hare woke up, it was already too late; the tortoise was already crossing the finish line.

When it comes to getting rid of belly fat, there are two mistakes the people make that are similar to the hare:

i) Get out to a great start and then stop 

When you first start out on a fitness routine to get in shape, the chances are that you’ll do really well in the first 6 weeks. In fact, there’s a joke among trainers that all trainers are awesome for the first 6 weeks because the client will see their best results in the beginning.

The problem that people face comes after that first taste of success. Some people refer to this as “hitting the wall.” However it’s not really a wall that you’ve hit. What happens is that your body has adapted to your new lifestyle – exercises that were once difficult are now easy, you’re not exhausted after your cardio, it seems like you’re not working hard enough like in the beginning. Well that’s exactly true!

Your body is stronger and more fit, therefore you need to increase the intensity of your workout. You have to keep changing up your routine so that your body won’t become accustomed to the work. As long as you can keep your body in a constant state of ‘hard work,’ you will keep seeing results. Just keep in mind that your results may be a bit slower than in the first 6 weeks, but remember, it’s a marathon, so keep going.

There are a few things you can do to keep your progress going after the initial 6 weeks:

• Increase the resistance of your exercises
• Decrease the time that you rest between exercises
• Increase your cardio intensity
• Change the order of your exercises (But do it wisely, consult a trainer or an experienced friend)
• Change your routine altogether

ii) Treat fat loss like a sprint when it’s really a marathon

This is similar to the first point I made about looking for a ‘quick-fix.’ The other thing about the quick fix is that people don’t realize just how much time they waste searching for the miracle pill that will cure all of their fat loss woes – time that could have been spent making losing weight the right way.

Whenever you feel yourself becoming impatient, remember that you didn’t gain the weight overnight. I know I’m repeating this point, but I really need you to understand it. You didn’t get those love handles in four weeks, or even four months. You gained that fat slowly, over time, and that’s who you will lose the weight as well. The good news is that you will lose the weight much faster than you gained it, but it’s not something with will happen in only a few weeks. Be patient, be consistent and be positive.

Avoid making these mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to getting rid of that stubborn belly fat.

So those are some of my reasons, but what other reasons do you think stop people from really getting over the hurdle? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Also, you can send me an email anytime at info@kamaral.com, or you can follow me on my new twitter account, or on good ole’ facebook!

stay strong,

Kam

I started training Isabel in September. She just had a baby and was having trouble getting back to her pre-pregnancy body. We hit the training hard, Isabel stuck to her routine, did her cardio and followed her meal plan religiously!

• She weight trained 3 days a week for 45 minutes
• Did cardio on the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes
• And stuck to her meal plan

Today, at her weigh-in and re-test, she has a lost 10lbs, 16 inches overall and her body fat has dropped by 5%.

With the 10lbs lost and the 5% drop in body fat, Isabel has lost a total of 17lbs of fat in 7 weeks while losing over 7 inches on her waist and hips.

I’m really proud and very excited for her to return to Venezuela for her Christmas vacation. Her family will be very impressed!

She did it, SO CAN YOU.

It’s the holiday season. There are a million things to do – shopping, decorating, cooking …eating! You’ve got staff parties, get togethers, family visits and everything else. The first thing to suffer during this festive but busy time of year is your workout! I know it’s hard to get a great workout in during the holidays, but it doesn’t mean you can’t get a decent workout and still get a flat stomach.

Remember, 15 minutes of something is way better than 24 hours of NOTHING. If you can’t make it to the gym, check out my post on working out with no equipment. It’s a quick 15 minute, full-body workout that you can do at home or in your office.

During the holiday season, no one is worried about their diet! It’s all about the good food and the Christmas cookies. I’m all for that, but it’s really important that you still manage to get a little workout in when you can. There is no such thing as “no time”. If you make the time to get a few exercises in, or get some cardio in, you will feel a lot less guilty about the food you eat.

If you can’t get a full hour of cardio in, doing it in intervals is just as effective. Remember, cardio is cumulative. So three 10 minutes sessions of cardio in a day is the same as 30 minutes in one shot. It all adds up.

The last thing you want is to feel like you’ve taken a step back on your path to a flatter stomach and a better body. Guilt is the last thing you need to start the new year. Combat those holiday feasts with a few bouts of cardio and a quick workout.

Here are some things to be aware of:

• When you’re Christmas shopping and it’s time to eat lunch at the mall, take the healthy option.
• Decorating or party planning makes you forget to prepare dinner, your only option is to order in.
• Completely forgetting to eat lunch because you’re so busy.
• The extra piece of cake or that extra glass of wine – it all adds up
• Sleeping in late, skipping breakfast and having last night’s dinner as your first meal of the day

If you want to get rid of that belly fat and finally get a flat stomach, try:

• Getting a quick workout at home or in the office
• When you’re eating out, skip the fries, get the salad
• Doing short spurts of cardio is just as good as doing one long session
• Take a light lunch or snack with you on your shopping expedition
• Plan your day in advance and make time for lunch

You don’t have to make great gains in your fitness during the holidays, but you should at least maintain your progress. Making a few small adjustments will help you on your goal to getting rid of that excess fat. Your great body and flat stomach awaits!

Happy Holidays,

Stay Strong,

Kam.

and How to Correct It

Myth #1 about getting a flat stomach: The best way to get a flat stomach is to do cardio

Cardio is only one-third of the equation. If you think that you’re going to get a flat stomach by doing only cardio, then you’ll be sorely disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, cardio is an important factor, but it’s not the only factor. Most people are only capable of burning between 300 and 600 calories an hour doing cardio; that is not enough to experience any significant fat loss. Also, cardio does nothing to tighten your skin or give you nice tone. If you lose 10 pounds doing only cardio, you’ll look like a smaller version of your same self; your body would not have changed in shape whatsoever.

So with regard to getting a flat stomach, your belly will be slightly smaller, but still loose and flabby. Cardio is a great way to burn off some extra calories, but like I said, it’s only one-third of the equation. The other two factors are exercise and diet. It will take you an extremely long time to see any changes in your stomach if you only do cardio. If you include a weight training routine, you will add muscle which can:

· boost your resting metabolic rate

· improve muscular tone and strength

· increase bone density

· firm and tighten your problem areas

· improve your overall physique

Changes in your diet can:

· double or even triple the amount of calories your burn in a day

· help you lose fat faster

· help maintain healthy digestion

· improve the appearance of your skin

It is important include a weight training routine and a healthy meal plan to supplement your cardio efforts.

Myth #2 about getting a flat stomach: Get rid of belly fat by taking a fat burner

It’s amazing how many take fat burners while having no clue what they are putting into their bodies. While it’s perfectly fine to want to do whatever it takes to get a nice flat stomach, you have to be more aware and responsible about what you put into your body. So I will cut straight to the point, FAT BURNERS DO NOT WORK. THEY ARE ABSOLULTELY, 100%, WITHOUT A DOUBT – A FRAUD!

The other sad truth: ALL FAT BURNERS ARE THE SAME. It doesn’t matter if it’s ‘All Natural,’ ‘Herbal,’ ‘Organic’… whatever… it’s all the same! I’m telling you this as an expert but also as someone who has tried it. I used hydroxycut a few years ago and the side effects were terrible. I was very dizzy and light-headed. Forget about hydroxycut, hoodia, xenadrine, or any other over the counter fat burner.

There are many dangerous effects of fat burners, some include:

· Dizziness

· Nausea

· Diarrhea

· Stomach cramps

· Cardiac arrest (if heart complications run in your family)

- Blackouts

Fat burners are also known as artificial metabolic boosters. They are loaded with caffeine, which basically tricks your heart into thinking that you are doing an intense activity. It also is putting a lot of strain on your nervous system. Any weight you lose by using fat burners will come back as soon as you are off them. Furthermore, you can only take those fat burners for a certain period of time then you have to stop. Prolonged use can have dire consequences. Fat burners can be very dangerous and I do not recommend them.

Myth #3 about getting a flat stomach: You can get a flat stomach without exercise

It’s hard to believe that some people still fall for this. I think it’s more that people still hold on to some hope that you can have a great body without putting in the work. It just doesn’t work that way. While it’s true that you can change the shape of your body by eating healthier, you won’t have a great looking stomach without exercise. Like cardio, exercise is an important factor. The good thing is that you don’t need to slave in the gym for 2 hours, or even 1 hour.

It takes as little as 30 minutes, 3 times a week to start seeing significant improvement in your body. You don’t even have to enroll in a gym. Playing your favourite sport, going hiking, taking up an active hobby (like cycling or swimming) are all great ways of getting exercise. Remember, if you want to get a flat stomach, you must eat well, you must do some sort of cardio activity, and you must do some sort of resistance training. Without exercise, there is no way you can have a tight, flat stomach. It might not be “pudgy”, but it won’t be completely flat either.

Myth #4 about getting a flat stomach: To burn belly fat, cardio must be done in the “fat burning zone”

Now for a short history lesson: About 30 years ago, scientists discovered that, depending on the intensity of your aerobic activity, the body turns to either your recently digested carbohydrates or your fat stores, to produce energy. During light to moderate intensity activity, your fat stores are used to produce energy. During high intensity activity, your body will look to your carbohydrates because it is broken down faster to produce energy. The intensity of the activity is determined by the body’s heart rate. In light of that discovery, fitness equipment manufacturers went nuts and started putting these little charts on treadmills and elliptical machines that show different “fat burning” zones. The chart tells you should be working at 65% of your maximum heart rate to enter your “fat burning zone”.

Now this information is true, however, it is misleading. If your goal is to burn as many calories as possible during your cardio session, then working in your “fat burning” zone will not produce the results you want. The reason is because if you are only working at 65% of your maximum heart rate, your body does not have to burn a lot of calories. There is no real demand on your body, so even though your primary source of energy is your fat stores, you’re actually burning very little fat and even fewer calories. If your goal is to lose your love handles in as short a time as possible, then working at 65% of your heart rate will not get you there. Now, if you work at a higher intensity, you burn more total calories. Another benefit of working at a higher intensity is the “cool down” effect. Think of a car that has been driving at a high speed. When you shut the engine off after you park, it’s still very hot. It takes time for the engine to cool down, as long as a few hours. The same happens when you work at a higher intensity during cardio. You actually continue to burn calories for hours after you’ve stopped. You won’t get that effect working at a low intensity because your body will cool down much faster.

To recap:

· Even though your burn actual “fat” during low intensity activity, it’s very little

· You don’t burn a lot of calories during low intensity activity

· High intensity activity burns more total calories

· You enjoy the benefits of the “cool down” effect after high intensity cardio

· In the long run, high intensity calories burns more fat and more calories overall.

Myth #5 about getting a flat stomach: Drink Cold water to increase metabolism and get rid of love handles

This is one of the newer myths and it revolves around the notion that your body has to expend more energy and thus, more calories, to warm the cold water that you’ve just drank. In addition to being one of the newer myths, it’s also a very dumb one. Your body has a core temperature of 37 degree Celsius. As soon as any cold water enters your body, it becomes warm almost instantly. There is absolutely no way that you metabolism will increase by drinking cold water.

You can increase your metabolism by increasing the frequency of your meals. So instead of eating 3 square meals a day, trying eating 5 to 6 smaller meals every 2-3 hours. When you let too much time pass between meals, your body becomes slow and sluggish because it is lacking energy. You also tend to over-eat at night because you’ve starved yourself for as long as 8 hours between lunch and dinner. This is where more people falter and give in to temptation – eating a large, fatty dinner. On the flip side, spreading your meals out has quite a few benefits.

· Your body has a constant supply of energy throughout the day

· Your metabolism stays higher all day because your body is constantly breaking down food

· You are less likely to overeat at night because you are less hungry

· You are less likely to crave high sugar or high salt foods

So in terms of losing belly fat, you can see how these changes in eating can have a positive effect.

Avoid these 5 mistakes and take my suggestions seriously. Remember, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Getting rid of belly fat and having a nice flat stomach takes time. Looking good is not a trait, it’s a lifestyle – and you need to learn how to live that lifestyle. Following these suggestions and avoiding these mistakes will put you on the road to that lifestyle.

Stay Strong,

Kam.

You can use this chart as guide to how many calories you are consuming in a day. I know some of the number might surprise you but it’s the truth.

Techniques to get rid of love handles

5 ways to stay motivated

The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

Did you know that  ninety percent of people trying to get rid of their love handles fail? Did you also know that the same 90% started off doing everything correctly but simply stopped? Why did they stop? Why would the not keep going when things were going to well? The problem is motivation. We all know what we need to do, but we simply don’t do it long enough to see any real results. So here are 5 techniques you can apply to help you get rid of your belly fat and get a flat stomach once and for all!

1) Write down your goals

Writing down your goals is a very powerful and effective way to stay motivated. I have my goals posted on my wall right in front of me, so I can see it every time I look up. If your goal is to get rid of your love handles and get a nice, flat stomach, then write it down and underline it. You can even make a list!

• Get rid of love handles

• Flatten stomach

• Lose 30 pounds in by February 14th

• Run 10 miles by April 5th

Seeing your goals every morning before you start your day will put you in that mindset to succeed. It will help you to remember every day that today is one step closer to your goal. I cannot stress enough how important it is to write down your goals. It has worked wonderfully for me and I know it will for you as well. In addition to writing down your goals, write down something that you can do once you’ve reached your goal. For example, “fit into size 6 jeans”. Write down what you will be able to do once you’ve reached your goal. Make plans for your new YOU.

2) Take a picture

Countless studies have shown that humans are visual beings. We respond more to images than we do to words and sentences. When we can see what we want, when we can visual a goal, it is more effective. Get a picture of someone with the body that you want. If your goal is to reduce belly fat, then get someone with a nice toned stomach. You can even take it a step further and put your own face on the body but I don’t think it’s necessary. You can also take a “before” picture of yourself and circle the areas you want to improve. Place your “before” picture next to the one “after” picture; the one with the body that you want. In addition to “reading” what you want, you can also “see” what you want. These are very powerful techniques for anyone. You can apply this to any area of your life that you want to improve. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on getting the body you’ve always wanted. If your goal is to get rid of belly fat, then make sure you can see an image of a body that has NONE. Let your mind absorb the image while you tell yourself, “I want THAT body”.

3) Practice Positive self-talk

Everyone loves a pep-talk! However, sometimes there is no one there to keep you motivated. On those tough days when you just feel tired and unmotivated, practice positive self-talk. You can say it aloud or just think it. If you’re tired, tell yourself, “today is a chance to take one step closer to my goal”.

There’s more:

• “I am one day closer to getting rid of my love handles”

• “I may be too tired work out for a full hour today, but I can still do 30 minutes”

• “I don’t need that extra piece of cake because I want a flatter stomach”

• “I will burn 500 calories today on the treadmill to get rid of my belly fat”

• “I will get a flatter stomach”

Having the ability to filter out negative thoughts and replace it with positive thoughts is a very helpful skill. Your thoughts affect your mood and your energy levels. In fact, your thoughts can even raise or lower your stress levels. If you keep thinking about a stressful situation, your heart rate can increase and you can actually be put in a sour mood. Fortunately, the same can be said for positive thoughts. Focusing on the positive and telling yourself that you can accomplish your goals can increase feelings of optimism and motivation. It sounds simplistic but trust, it works! Your thoughts have energy. They have enough energy to impact your entire body. Just think about placebo studies where people actually recovered from an illness because they “thought” a pill was working; when in fact, the pill had no actual medication at all. Use positive self-talk whenever you feel like you’re not at the top of your game.

 UNUSUAL TIPS TO LOSE EXCESS STOMACH FAT

4) Outline your game plan – Quantify your goals.

Let’s say you’re dying to get rid of your love handles. In addition to writing down your goals, it is very important to have an outline of how you plan to reach your goal. “Get rid of love handles” may be your ultimate goal, but in order to get there, you fist need to accomplish a series of smaller goals.

It would look something like this:

Overall goal – Get rid of love handles, flatten stomach.

Long Term Goal (Mountain): Lose 24lbs in 3 months. Lose 20 inches by June 14th.

Short Term Goal (Large Rocks): Lose 8lbs a month

Immediate Goal (Little Stones): Lose 2lbs a week

• Burn 2000 calories this week doing cardio

• Weight train for 30 minutes, 3 days this week – 300 * 3 = 900 calories

• Decrease beer intake by 2 = lose 500 calories (250cal * 2)

• Decrease sugar in daily coffee by 1 = 50cal * 7 = 350 calories

• Total = 2000 + 900 + 500 + 350 = 3750 calories (1lb = 3500 calories)

By doing your cardio, exercising, cutting back on 2 beers (or any drink), and having one less sugar in your coffee, you have already lost more than one pound. The other pound will be lost through healthier eating. Can you see it? When you break your goals down into smaller goals, that mountain that you have to move is now a series of rock; and those rocks are collection of small stones that you can handles easily! Losing 2lbs every week for 3 months isn’t a mountain, it’s just small stones. When you quantify your goals, all of a sudden, they become more reachable. “What” you want is great, but “How” to get it is even better.

Another important aspect of goal setting is the deadline! It’s not good enough to say “get rid of belly fat” or even “lose 24 lbs in 3 months”. Without a specific date, you will never have a real deadline which makes it easier for you to keep putting off. You need a specific date to reach you goal. (Lose 24lbs by June 14th). Seeing that your deadline date is getting closer will definitely motivate you to keep working hard and not take any day for granted.

UNIQUE TIPS TO LOSE BELLY FAT

5) Keep a journal

The good thing about keeping a weight loss journal is that you can see patterns in your behaviour and mood. You can actually see the trends of when you tend to do well and times when you tend to struggle. There is no hard and fast rule of ‘how’ to keep a journal. You can write by hand, you can keep a word file on your pc, or you can even have it on your phone; whatever is convenient for you. Write down what you ate, what you did and how you feel. Document how your body is changing (but don’t be obsessive). If you did something that your feel proud about, write it down. For example: it’s a co-worker’s birthday and everyone is devouring the cake when you decided to snack on your yogurt instead. That is a great victory my friend! Remember, you will get rid of your love handles through a series of little victories. Document your little victories.

You might think it’s insignificant, but let me ask you this: Did you become overweight over night? Was it one meal that made you fat? No! It was a series of meals, of bad decisions, of poor choices. All the little pieces of cake, chocolate and junk food ultimately added pound by pound to your body. The same goes for weight loss. You’re not going to get rid of your belly fat overnight. When someone tells you, “it’s just ONE piece, it won’t make a difference”, you tell them where they can shove that little piece! Because you know that little piece over time will be the deciding factor.

Ok so I rambled on a bit there. My point is, having a journal is good because you can document your ups and downs. You will also begin to see that the better you get, the more smaller victories you will accumulate. Then guess what will happen. Those small victories all of a sudden turn into “habit”. What once required will power not needs no hesitation at all. You automatically pass on bad snacks without blinking.

Did the journal do that? No, but it helped you to see just how many times you were and will be faced with temptation and how many times you caved or avoided. You can spot what time of day is the hardest for you. You can identify where you weak points are and adjust accordingly so that you can work around it.

So these are my five methods for staying motivated. I can probably write a separate article on each method to expand on it, which I think I will… so stay tuned to kamaral.com I strongly encourage you to apply these techniques because 9 out of 10 people fail to lose weight because they were not motivated enough to stick with their game plan. Motivation, like anything else, needs practice. Staying motivated is a skill that is a trademark of successful people. These methods are for you to apply because you can’t always rely on someone else to motivate you. You have to motivate yourself.

Thank you for reading and I hope this article will help you on your goal to get rid of your love handles, get a flat stomach, and have the body you’ve always wanted.

Stay Strong,

Kam.

5 FACTS YOU MUST UNDERSTAND IF YOU ARE EVER GOING TO LOSE YOUR EXCESS STOMACH FAT

Discover 10 more practical tips to help you get rid of love handles

Remember that this is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. If you’re looking for a quick fix, you will spend months and years looking for it – months and years you could have been doing things the right way.

I have huge goals for Kamaral.com. I want this website to be an authority on the internet when it comes to health and fitness. I want to attract thousands of visitors a day and hopefully generate a sustainable income from it. I’d like to be able to stay home so I can be there for my son’s milestones in life – when he crawls, when he walks, when he speaks for the first time. I don’t want to hear that I should have been there, I want to be there – just like I was for his birth and his feeding and his first bath.
I want to be there and not have to worry about paying the bills.

So everyday, I take one step. I don’t have thousands of visitors a day, or even hundreds. But everyday I take one step. I write an article one day, do some research the next day, send emails on Sundays, read articles on Monday – small steps.

I make sacrifices too. I’m up at 5.30am some days and I train my clients until lunch. Then I come home, get a quick bite, then I sit on this computer for about 3 hours. Then I go back to the gym, and I train clients again for another 4 hours. Then I come home again, and I sit here for another 3-4 hours. This is my life for the last few months and it can get hard sometimes. But when I feel like being lazy, I think of my son and my fiance. I think of the kind of life I want for us and all the good things that can come from it, and I get back to work. I think about my goal, and I keep doing, with little steps.

We all have goals, and we all want them now. But we know that we have to work for it. If your goal is to finally get rid of those love handles, then start today, with one step. You’ll have to make sacrifices – that piece of dessert that you love, the fries, the great food. But think about your body right now. Do you like the way it looks? Are you happy with those love handles? Are you happy after you eat junk? How do you feel when you see clothes that you want to where but you know it won’t look good on you? When you want to give in to temptation, think about those jeans that you want to wear again.

Now I’m not saying that you should NEVER treat yourself. I’m saying you should treat yourself when you really earn it. When you really put the work in at the gym, or you ate really well for 2 weeks in a row. Create an environment of discipline in your mind. You can do this. You can lose that belly fat, you can tone those arms and legs, you can have a flat stomach. You can do it. You just have to be in the right state of mind.

Every great accomplishment starts with one step. Everyday is a chance for you to take one step forward.

Take ONE step today.

Take the stairs today. Pass on the fries tomorrow. Get a salad instead of the baked potato on Sunday.  -These are all small steps that add up along the way. This is how you do it! If you can’t exercise for your full hour, you will still benefit from 30 minutes. Remember that this is a marathon, it is NOT a sprint!

I didn’t take you 4 weeks to get those love handles. It didn’t take you 6 months to get that gut. It took you years! So don’t expect to have a perfect body in 4 weeks. It wasn’t ONE bad meal that gave you that belly fat, it was hundreds of bad meals. Each meal added to your weight. Now, you can reverse this and start eating good meals, one at a time. You gained fat over time and you will lose it over time.

ONE STEP. TAKE ONE STEP TODAY.

Learn 10 ways to lose love handles

HOW TO GET RID OF LOVE HANDLES:

i) 10 ways to get rid of belly fat

ii) Why you have love handles

iii) Exercises for a flat stomach

 The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

10 sure fire ways to get rid of belly fat:

Love handles are just another name for belly fat or stomach fat. What you really want is to lose the layer of fat around your belly so that the sides of your tummy don’t stick out and flop over when you wear jeans or pants. At the end of the day, it’s all about getting rid of the belly fat between your skin and your abdomen.

Here are 10 things you can do to get rid of love handles:

1) Eat Green Veggies – If you really want decrease the size of your love handles, then you’ll want to start eating more leafy green vegetables. Leafy veggies are never completely broken down by digestion; instead, it gets crushed into tiny pieces that act as scrubbing brushes. These little brushes clean out your intestines, giving your stomach a flatter appearance and reducing the appearance of your love handles. While it make look like you are losing belly fat, you’re actually getting rid of the waste in your intestines which is below the fat.

2) Drink lots of water – Another important tip for you to reduce belly fat is to drink lots of water throughout the day. Water flushes out toxins and impurities that can build up in your body over time. If you’re not drinking enough water in the day, your body will actually retain MORE water, making you feel and look bloated. When you start drinking more water, your bloating will actually decrease. Less bloating coupled with flushed out impurities will result in a flat stomach. The truth is that your love handles may be due to water retention. Drink more water so that your body won’t feel the need to retain water.

FIVE FACTS YOU MUST UNDERSTAND IF YOU ARE EVER GOING TO GET RID OF BELLY FAT

3) Eat more whole grains -  Eating more whole grain foods can also decrease the appearance of your love handles. Foods that are high in fibre and have whole grains are usually denser. This means you have to eat less of it to feel fuller. When you are fuller from eating less, you are less likely to overeat. Also, fibre is also great for helping your body get rid of built up waste in your intestines. If your intestines are less filled and bloated, your mid-section will look thinner. Now even though I’m talking about fiber in terms of getting rid of belly fat, its benefits go far beyond getting a flat stomach. Fibre is important because it can help prevent serious diseases like colon cancer. The reason goes back to the same issue of built up waste and toxins. In addition to making your stomach appear bigger, these toxins can cause some serious damage to your body. So even if your goal is to get rid of love handles, be aware of the bigger issue as well and add fibre to your diet for sustained health.

4) Eat lots of fruit with the skin – Just like veggies, the fruit and its skin act like little scrubbers that will clean your intestinal walls. If you don’t know by now, all of those popular detox diets that are aimed at getting rid of belly fat are simply a diet of fruits, veggies and lots of water. The whole principle of detox is to “flush out” your clogged intestines or “cleanse” if you will. Adding fruit to your diet will give you that same effect and it will definitely help you lose your love handles over time.

So right off the bat, the first 4 tips I’ve given you all deal with flushing out your built up waste and toxins. Do this actually burn belly fat? NO. But it does help you in accomplishing the goal of making your stomach flatter. A lof ot people aren’t aware that they might be walking around with as much as 10 pounds of excess waste in their intestines alone. These 4 tips are not a “FIX”. it is something you need to do all the time because if you stop, you will starting storing more waste again.

The next 4 tips will help you reduce belly fat and get rid of your love handles. You won’t hear these tips very often, but they are very powerful and usually neglected – so pay close attention. Finally, tThe last tip is universal and by far, the most important advice I can give you as a trainer.

5) Always eat breakfast – Breakfast prevents your body from going into a fat storing, starvation mode. Skipping breakfast after 7-8 hours of sleep means that you’ll end up going up to half a day without food. This signals your body to store MORE FAT since you’re not providing enough energy for it carry out its daily processes. By skipping the most important meal of the day, you are actually making your love handles worse! Think about the word, “breakfast”, it literally means to ”break fast”. Your body has been fasting all night while you slept, the morning is time for you to ”break that fast”! I always tell my clients that it’s better to eat like a prince in the morning and a pauper in the night. If you have eaten well during the day then you are less likely to overeat at night. If you skip breakfast and have a crappy lunch then it won’t be surprising if you’re craving everything at dinner time. Your body won’t function properly withouth a good breakfast. You actually increase your metabolism when you eat breakfast because your body is starving for nourishment. Eat breakfast to prevent your body from storing fat; feed your body properly and you will be on your way to losing belly fat.

6) Manage your stress levels – I know it’s easier said than done. However, when you’re stressed your body releases a chemical called cortisol. This chemical encourages the storage of fat around your stomach. In fact, studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between people with high stress levels and bulging waistlines! In other words, if you’re highly stressed most of the time, chances are that you are walking around with extra love handles. You can manage your stress and actually lose belly fat by listening to relaxing music, going to the gym, or just having some quiet time. Get rid of love handles by getting rid of your stress. Keep in mind that stress plays a major role in a lot of major illnesses, not just fat gain. Stress can cause severe depression, ulcers and even heart attacks! Don’t underestimate the dangerous potential of stress. It’s really important to manage your stress effectively. Every day, more studies are showing that exercise is proving to be a better cure for stress and moderate depression than prescription medication. So in addition to losing love handles, managing your stress can help you in many other parts of your life. Getting back to my original point, managing your stress can definitely improve the appearance of your belly fat.

Keep in mind that stress plays a major role in a lot of major illnesses, not just fat gain. Stress can cause severe depression, ulcers and even heart attacks! Don’t underestimate the dangerous potential of stress. It’s really important to manage your stress effectively. Every day, more studies are showing that exercise is proving to be a better cure for stress and moderate depression than prescription medication. So apart from getting rid of your love handles, managing your stress can help you in many other parts of your life. However, to stay on point with this topic, managing your stress can definitely improve the appearance of your belly fat. 

UNUSUAL TIPS TO LOSE YOUR STOMACH FAT

7) Do not over eat at night – Eating then sleeping right away can cause your body to convert more of what you eat at night to fat. There is no way for you to burn off those extra calories at night. If you must eat, opt for a light meal (Salad with grilled chicken strips). However, it is better to eat something light than to go to be hungry. Don’t skip dinner in the hopes that it will make your stomach flatter. You’re not going to get rid of belly fat by starving yourself. If it’s late at night, use common sense and pass on the fries! If you have a busy lifestyle and eating out is a part of the way you do business, then lead by example and choose the healthier option in the menu. Remember, you don’t get love handles overnight, you get it one bad meal at a time. In order to reduce belly fat, you need to be more vigilant with your eating – especially if you have to eat late at night. When I eat out at night and it’s late, I usually have more protein and less carbohydrates. So I would eat a chicken breast and just have a few bites of the potato or rice. This small change alone has kept my waist trim over the last 6 years.

Eat Yogurt – The high calcium content in yogurt has been shown to inhibit the storage of fat around the stomach. I love this tip because it is directly related to the fat around your stomach that gives you those love handles. The research on this is still pretty fresh but all signs are pointing to a definite “YES” to yogurt when it comes to reducing belly fat. Yogurt is a great snack that you can  have between lunch and dinner, or even before you hit the gym. While on the topic of snacking, it’s important to include a light snack between breakfast and lunch, as well as lunch and dinner. This will help to increase your metabolism throughout the entire day!

9) Take the stairs or walk! – Walking up a flight of 16 stairs can burn about 10 calories each time! It might not seem like much but if you walk up those stair 3 times a day for 5 days that’s an extra 150 calories you’ve just burned. That adds up to 3000 calories in a month! That’s just under 1 pound of fat lost just by taking the stairs at work or in your building. Taking those stairs 7 days a week, 3 times a day would amount to 4200 calories – that’s over 1 pound lost ( 1 pound = 3000 calories). If you are a little more motivated and want to take up some actual time in the gym or at home, you can burn belly fat with cardio activity and build muscle to increase metabolism. This little piece of advice will not only help you get rid of belly fat, it can help you lose everything else – thunder thighs, back fat, chunky cheeks, you name it! You don’t need to become a gym rat, all you need is three days a week for 20-40 minutes. You don’t need to spend two hours in the gym for seven days a week. Start lightly and work your way up as you get stronger. It’s not really about getting rid of love handles as it is, keep it off! Exercise is the great equalizer and will help you keep your mid-section nice and trim for a long time. Being active is a very powerful tool when it comes to losing love handles and getting a flat stomach. It allows you to get rid of any extra calories you might be carrying around and the increased strength and endurance allows you to be more active and less tired.

10) Be Consistent – This is the simplest, shortest yet most important tip. Everything takes time. Consistency over time is the greatest determinant of success. Combining these tips will have you on the fast track to getting rid of those love handles in no time but you have to stick with it. Like anything in life, the good things take a little work but it’s so worth it!

These tips are not a quick fix solution for getting rid of belly fat. If you implement these changes you will definitely see a difference over a 2-3 weeks if you are consistent. However, you will almost instantly feel lighter and less bloated within 2-3 DAYS because your body will be flushing out all that built up waste in your body. Give all or some of these tips a try and I guarantee you will see and feel a difference in your stomach. 

Discover how to LOSE LOVE HANDLES PERMANENTLY

THE REASON YOU HAVE LOVE HANDLES

Have you ever thought about how you even got saddled with those love handles? What did you do wrong? Do you ever think that your body was just built that way and maybe you were destined to have a fat stomach? Well you can stop feeling sorry for yourself and face the facts – The reason you have a excess belly fat is a direct result of YOUR diet.

While it’s true that some people have a higher metabolism than others, but the fact still remains that you have full control over the way you look. If you don’t have the greatest metabolism in the world, then you shouldn’t be “treating” yourself every weekend. You should treat yourself, but in moderation, never in excess.

Ok, ok, don’t start crying. When you understand the physiological reasons why you have excess stomach fat, you will understand that it’s actually not hard to burn belly fat. The extra fat around your abdomen is an accumulation of subcutaneous fat that is just below your skin. There is also another layer of fat, it’s called visceral fat. This type of fat lies deep inside your body, closer to your vital organs – which is actually more dangerous for you. Visceral fat that surrounds your vital organs can obstruct the proper flow of blood to your heart and liver. This then in turn forces your heart to work harder to produce more blood for your body – this can lead to heart failure. However, in terms of “looking” healthy, the unsightly fat that you really want to get rid of is your subcutaneous fat. The good news though, is that through proper changes to your diet and lifestyle, you can get rid of both your visceral and subcutaneous fat.

More details into why you have excess stomach fat.

Believe it or not, your fat cells never increase or decrease in number. When you lose fat, your fat cells remain the same. The change that is occurring is actually the fat cells shrinking. When someone is morbidly obese, their fat cells are still the same, but they are incredibly stretched. What you must realize is that there is no limit to how far your fat cells can stretch. So if you continue to eat poorly, your fat cells will definitely continue to stretch – and so will your love handles.

Coming back to the reason for your excess belly fat – it’s DIET. The more fatty foods you eat, the more you’ll stretch your fat cells, and the larger your waist will become. So it’s very important to be vigilant about the foods you eat. Also, you must remember that you didn’t gain those love handles over night, therefore, you shouldn’t expect to have a flat stomach over night. It takes time. However, doing simple things like having one less beer, or one less sugar packet with your coffee can go a long way to decreasing your belly fat.

THE EXCESS BELLY FAT IS NOT ALL YOUR FAULT

While most of your belly fat might be your own doing, it’s actually not entirely your fault alone why you have love handles. One major reason you have fat around your stomach is food companies. You don’t know this, but you are unknowingly eating foods that are making you fatter. These foods are cleverly disguised as “HEALTHY” and “LOW FAT”. For example: Some foods that claim to have NO FAT are actually loaded with SUGAR! When you consume too much sugar, your body produces more insulin to process the sugar, which in turn makes your body store MORE FAT. That’s why diabetics have a hard time controlling their weight. Insulin promotes the storage of fat in your body. A lot of my new clients would tell me that they had a good day of eating because a certain cookie they ate was “low fat” or “fat free”. You could imagine their disappointment when I tell them what I just told you. Therefore it’s very important for you to be careful of those foods that claim to be low fat but in fact are loaded with sugar.

So now that you know how belly fat is formed, you should now be realizing that doing a hundred situps and crunches won’t get rid of the layer of fat above your abs. Sure, you will strengthen your abdominal muscles, but with regard to losing belly fat, you are doing NOTHING. You need to get rid of the excess calories. Here is a little known secret: You don’t have a say in where your body burns fat. Products which claim to “TARGET PROBLEM AREAS” are flat out LYING TO YOU. When you lose fat, your body decides where it will burn the excess fat. Doing stomach exercises will not give you a flat stomach! You need to think of your fat loss in terms of your entire body, not just your mid section. The faster you realize this, the easier your goal to getting a flat stomach will be.

Learn the real methods to getting a flat stomach.

Exercises for a FLAT STOMACH

The best exercises to get rid of love handles are multi-joint movements like the one in this video - Squat – bicep curl – shoulder press.

• Combining three exercises into one is a great way to work more muscles at once, and in the process, burn more calories and increase your heartrate.
• Because there is such a demand for energy during this type of exercise, your body has no choice but to produce more energy. By using more energy, you burn more calories.
•  Also, you are getting a more efficient workout because you have just completed 3 seperate exercises in ONE movement. This also means that you are strengthening and toning more muscles at once.
• In this particular exercise, you are targeting your butt, legs, arms and shoulders at once. In this movement alone you are working over 16 different muscles! Compare this to a regular abdominal crunch, – 1 muscle versus 16 – which do you think will burn more calories and increasing your fat burning potential? 

This is just one example of a mult-joint movement. However, there is no limit to the number of exercises you can combine so that you can burn more calories faster. Other exercises that burn calories and build strength at the same time are the deadlift and chest press. These two exercises are very effective because it does the same thing that the squat, curl and press does – it works more muscles at once. So remember, focus on mult-joint movements and you will get rid of your love handles faster.

I’ll be posting more multi-joint exercises in the coming weeks to keep checking back. You can join my mailing list to be be notified when I add new exercises and fat burning techniques. You’ll also get a free 60 page eBook on fat loss as a thank you for subscribing – I know, I’m awesome. My mother tells me that all the time

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