Spot Reducing

Many people are are asking me, "How do I lose my stomach fat?", "How do I lose the fat in my hips?" etc. Well, spot reducing is a myth. You lose fat when you lose fat. And it comes off where your body decides to pull it from. (There is really a lot more to it than that, but I do not have time to go into all that right now and that really starts going into courses, certifications, etc.)

Now you can "Spot Tone", but I will get to that at another time.

There are several things you must do to lose fat. Eat less calories than you burn. And I am talking about eating good quality calories. Not cookies and ice cream.

Portion sizes in this country have gotten way out of hand. A portion size is no larger than the palm of your hand. If your portions are larger than that, you are eating too much.

Always eat a complete protein with your carbohydrate. Eat 5 - 6 small meals a day. The protein shake I have posted in an older post can count as one of those meals.

Avoid white stuff! White sugar, white bread, anything made with white flour. Sugar and bread will put that belly fat on fast! And it does not want to come off.

White potatoes are OK. They are healthy for you as long as you eat them baked or prepared in a healthy way.

Avoid soft drinks. Even diet ones. Think about it. How many skinny people do you see walking around with a diet coke in their hands? I think I have seen one and she had a cigarette in the other.... As a personal trainer and diet consultant, I will take a client off of diet drinks. Allow them one regular coke over a 1 month period as a 'treat' (just one). Replace those diet cokes with water. Not do anything else to their diet and they will lose 7 lbs in 2 weeks. There is something about that stuff that makes people retain or something. I saw one gal drop a whole dress size.

Try a 2 week sugar fast and see the difference. You can do without anything for 2 weeks.

Another thing to do to lose 'fat' is a good cardio workout. It can be spinning, running, power walking, boot camp, circuit (my personal favorite), and make sure you add strength training 3-4 times a week to take care of that 'spot toning'.

Since I teach such a variety of classes my regimen is different. Mondays I teach 2 step classes, (1 am, 1 pm-temporary), 1 Essential Fitness Class (Sr. Aerobics-am), 1-Pilates also in the am. So, until someone takes over this pm class at a gym I sub at, I am teaching 4 classes on Mondays. That is probably more workouts in one day than most people do in a week. All the classes also have a weight and ab segment.
Tues-a Free Weight training class called Muscle Works. Wed I am off from Fitness-But I do work on lesson plans & practice new routines. Thurs I teach my favorite class, Interval Step Circuit (Gin Miller's style -I just love her!) then I teach an Advanced Pilates class with some Yoga thrown in. Most people can't tell the difference. Thurs night, I soccer scrimmage with my DD's team. (I also get calls to sub here and there on days I am off. But I try to keep those my off days b/c my primary occupation is a freelance photographer. My only reason to sub is when I have a shoot, I need a sub and you know all about payback right? ;-} )

Friday off but work one lesson plans and new routines and I do a lower body workout. Some Sats I sub at a local gym that I am currently teaching at on Monday nights. Or I will lift weights at home.

Sometimes I run, walk or bike on my own for variety. As you see, I am plenty active and it takes up most of my mornings everyday.

To lose body fat:

1. Eat less calories than you burn
2. Cut out the white stuff (except white potatoes prepared in a healthy way)
3. Increase cardio
4. Replace soft drinks with water
   

You may want to consider doing a sugar fast for a couple of weeks. :-) And this really works for losing belly fat. Change nothing else in your diet, but lose the refined sugar and the white breads.

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