Tag: Adipose tissue

Motivation Monday: Things you need to know to get flat abs.

On By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Health and fitness information
Ryan knows that abs are made in the kitch!
Ryan knows that abs are made in the kitch!

Want to know how to get flat abs?  Here are 10 things you need to know to help you
get the body you want.

10.  Supplements will not give you flat abs.
No matter how many times Dr. Oz tries to sell you the newest belly fat cure, nothing will work unless your food is right.  Remember, Dr. Oz gets a check.

9. Machines that zap your abs while you watch TV will not give you flat abs. Nothing will work unless your food is right.

8. You cannot spot reduce.  That Pinterest workout for flat abs is great!  You need to know, though that you can’t target fat loss in one spot.  You lose body fat all over. You can target muscle development but until you shred away the body fat that is covering the muscle, you won’t see it.

7. Sugar causes belly fat and you are getting too much of it. Check your gummy vitamins. They can contain up to 9 grams of sugar in 3 chews. Who really eats just three??    Viactive calcium chews have High Fructose Corn Syrup-the grand master of belly fat!!

6. Artificial sweetners are no better. Kick the pink, blue and yellow packets to the curb. Aside from being chemical nightmares, they ‘fool’ the body into thinking it’s having
sugar.   Our clients drop belly fat right away when we pull those little packets.
If you have to sweeten, use the green packet but sparingly.  Jury is still out on that.

5.Diet soda is the devil.  There are many reasons to ditch diet soda and
drink water.   How about this.. it makes you store belly fat.  Your insulin spikes in the same way as when you eat real sugar.  See number 6. Oh.. The Blue packet has a little tiny bit of arsenic in it.   There it is. Go Google that!

4. Fruit is great. It’s healthy.  It’s sugar.  Limit your fruit to lo-glycemic
choices like apples and dark  berries. Tropical fruits, bananas, and melons are high in sugar content. Fruit juices and faux fruity drinks are belly fat contributors. If you have fruit, eat it in it’s whole form. At least it has fiber.

3. Diet food is giving you belly fat.  Frozen diet dinners advertise that
you will ‘lose’ weight if you eat them.  If you read the labels though, they are loaded
with  sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, chemicals, sodium and other suspect ingredients. High Fructose Corn Syrup or corn sugar as it is now called, causes your body to turn off the ability to know when you are full for up to 24 hours.  You feel hungry  and you eat more food.  HFCS and sugar both cause belly fat. How is it possible that ‘Skinny Cow’ makes you skinny?  It doesn’t. The weight loss industry would go out of business if it did.  Oh, fancy pants products like agave, honey, turnbinado, and coconut sugars are still sugar. Steer clear! Gluten Free is not diet. Gluten free brownies  are still brownies. You weren’t really fooled by all that???

2. Alcohol gives you belly fat.  Unless you were dropped on this planet with the
genetics of a Greek god, you can’t escape the beer gut. Simply put, alcohol turns to sugar and you’ll wear it.  I’m not here to judge, but you can’t have it both ways. If you want to see those glorious abs you worked for, put down the bottle.

1. For maximum, banging, rockstar abs… Fix your own food!
Clean food, you prepared yourself will help you achieve the sleek belly you want.
Bring your food with you. You cannot be sure of marinades or sauces in restaurants.
You can control your meals, you will get the results you want!

If you need further help, information or meal plans, I’m happy to help. Contact me here or through my website, http://www.sleekbodymethod.com

Secrets to losing weight and not gaining it back

On By Bikini Competitor TracyHIn Health and fitness information
Image
This model is leaner and tighter. Who cares what the scale says!!!

The number one reason clients tell me they want to hire me is  because they want to lose weight.
A couple of things come to mind when I hear clients say this.
Chances are this person has had a history of yo-yo dieting and they don’t want to start over again and again. Also, typically, these people are slaves to the scale. It’s sad that so many people use the scale to judge their self-image. Weight loss= good day. Being up a pound or two could mean a bad day.

It really that cut and dried? Nope.. not at all.  Our weight can fluctuate several times a day depending on water/food intake, depletion, hormones, or illness. This is no way to live. When the scale goes up or down, it’s a mental roller coaster that crushes self-esteem and sets the pace for a never-ending fight.

Did you know that 6 ounces of water can show a pound on the scale?  Have you ever seen a boxer trying to make weight?  If they are over their weight class, they will wrap themselves in plastic and sweat in a hot room to get that number down on the scale. That sounds super healthy, right?  But  hey.. they got the scale to say the right thing.  😦

I dislike the scale and ask my clients stay off of it.  It doesn’t matter. Let me repeat.. it doesn’t matter.
I ask them, ‘do your clothes fit better?’. ‘ Do you like the way you look?’   The best judge of your loss is.. how you look.
Remember when I told you in a previous post that I was only about 8 pounds heavier at my mushiest than I was the day I did my show? I had soooo much more muscle the day of my show.  I was two sizes smaller.

Muscle is tighter, cuter, sexier than body fat.

Muscle does NOT weigh more than fat.
A pound is a pound is a pound and the truth of the matter is  muscle is dense and much more efficient than body fat. The more muscle tissue you have the more calories you burn just going about your daily routine. SCIENCE!
Also, lean muscle tissue takes up less space and makes you look sexy and tight. Building lean muscle is critical to the overall goal of being lean and staying lean.
. muscle and body fat
Hey.. that body fat looks like SpongeBob!  Look how much smaller 5 pounds of muscle is!

How we get it wrong

   Too much cardio will cause you to lose muscle.
Cardio done in duration makes you lose muscle.  All the cardio bunnies who come to me, tell me they love running but they can’t get rid of the jiggle.  Picture this: You start with 30 minutes on the elliptical and you get some nice results.  Soon, you have to amp your cardio time up to get more results.  Pretty soon, your body has adapted to the longer duration and now you have to get up an hour earlier to get your cardio in.  All the while, you are chasing the dream of losing weight while burning off the muscle that will keep your metabolism revved up!  That’s messed up!

Diet with no exercise
Dieting alone without strength training, can cause you to lose muscle. The yo-yo dieter is someone who restricts their calories to lose weight.

“Oh girl, I totally lost weight and I didn’t even have to workout on that Dr. Oz diet!”

But it’s a sad fact that when you diet without strength training to build muscle, you lose valuable muscle tissue. Remember, muscle tissue burns more calories than body fat.  The yo-yo dieter has now lost muscle and when she over eats, her metabolism is slower.  She’s likely to regain her weight plus some!  That’s NOT GOOD.

Solutions:

Strength Training : Lift!!!  You will not bulk up. You will not look like a man. You will be lean, sexy and your clothes will slip on like you’ve been dipped in butter.  Your shape will be gorgeous and your friends will be jealous.

High intensity Interval Training: HIIT is bursts of high intensity movement with short periods of active recovery.  Our clients do 20 minutes of HIIT to help peel away body fat. Your body doesn’t get ‘used to HIIT’ and it will respond favorably.  Word of caution.  More is not better.  55 minutes of HIIT. Nope.  Hours of HIIT every day.. skip that too.  You don’t need it.  Start with a commitment to lifting 4 times a week and 2 HIIT workouts of 15 minutes each.  Leave the overkill mentality behind!!

Get on a meal plan.  Hot bodies are made in the kitchen.  You can’t eat crap and get bikini ready.

If you don’t know how to start, or need help with your workouts or meal plans, please let me help you!
You can totally do this!!