The Hidden Dangers of Your Excess Abdominal Fat – It’s More Serious Than a Vanity Issue!

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don’t realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly demonstrated that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that “beer belly” appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase the risk your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your body on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There’s just no way around it. Besides, a side-effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.

So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for “miracle” fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can’t spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn’t work that way.

The ONLY solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I’ve actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise/diet group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.

Well, the good news is that I’ve spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it “in the trenches” with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

The entire solution… all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program.
Keep in mind that the point of this whole program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective strategies for losing your stubborn abdominal fat, so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.

If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork… it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply the information I teach. If you apply it, the results will come. It’s really that simple.

The only reason most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS.

Don’t waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this problem at…

The Truth About Abs

Train hard, eat right, and enjoy life!

Children of all types and abilities need continual self esteem boosts delivered daily. Try the following ten ways to boost your child’s self esteem.

Praise your child for specific behaviors. It’s not enough to say, “You’re a good kid.” Children need to hear specifics, like, “I appreciate how hard you worked on this science project.” They need to hear you mention exactly what they did right.

Pay compliments to your child, commenting on the characteristics that make him or her shine. Try to catch your child doing something good.

Spend time with your child. When you spend time with your child, you’re saying your child is important to you.

Listen attentively when your child speaks. Nod, affirm your child, and ask questions that show you are paying attention and care.

Support your child’s interests. That may mean sending your child to lessons, practicing with your child, and listening to him or her talk about the subject.

Correct your child’s behavior, assuming your child will listen to your correction and change. You need to remain optimistic that this time your child will finally get it, even if it’s a tough issue.

Smile at your child. Many adults don’t realize how serious their expressions are, and how frightening a serious face can be to a child.

Be affectionate with your child. Children flourish under the affection of an adult.

Take note when your child overcomes an obstacle. This can be super effective if your child has struggled to deal with a particular issue for a long time. Your support helps your child believe he or she can overcome.

Hang up medals, ribbons, and certificates where people can see them.

Bonus Tip: Check out parenting books for help building your child’s self esteem. If you have a preteen daughter, read Reviving Ophelia; if you have kids who can’t get along, read Siblings Without Rivalry. If you have a son, check out Raising Cain, and if you have an opinionated, stubborn child, check out Raising Your Spirited Child.

This vegetable from the thistle family does have thorns just like any other thistle. The thorns are at the tips of the leaves and very easy to remove with a pair of kitchen scissors. You then can cut off the top fourth to third of the small leaves.  There is not much in these leaves to eat so you may as well remove them.

Get a big pot of water boiling and salt well.  If you wish you can also add a large slice of lemon to the water. Once the water is boiling add the artichokes. Somewhere between a half hour and fifty minutes you can check your artichokes to see if a leaf easily pulls off.  If the leaf does come off easily, your choke is done. Remove your artichoke and allow to drain.

You can dip your artichokes in a butter, salt, pepper, and lemon dip. Start by pulling off a leaf.  You will be eating the fleshy part at the very base of the leaf by scraping it on your teeth. Once you have dipped the fleshy part of the leaf, put the leaf about half way into your mouth.  Carefully put your teeth together and pull.  You will scrape the fleshy part and leave the leaf behind.

Once you have eaten all of the fleshy parts of the leaves you will be left with a fuzzy looking “choke”. Now you need to scrape off this fuzz with a spoon or cut it off with a knife. The fuzz is not edible. Under this fuzz is the heart of the artichoke. The heart is good to eat. You may or may not wish to eat the stem.  This is personal choice. I don’t prefer artichoke stems myself.

Want to have a different food for date night?  Artichokes may be the way to go.  You can feed each other leaves for an evening of fun. It is well work the time and effort to eat artichokes because of the nutritional value they have.

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Shrimp cocktail is a special treat that’s also good for you. It’s one of the easiest, most indulgent yet good for you snacks. Choose between premade or homemade cocktail sauce (both are easy), but whatever you do, choose the low-sugar sauce with lots of horseradish. The spicy sauce will make you feel like you’ve really eaten something worth remembering, and the shrimp is high in protein but low in calories, which will keep you satisfied.

Whip up some zucchini. For this quick and easy dish, you’ll need to finely chop a clove of garlic and a large clump of basil, plus a smal tomato and a small zucchini, which you’ll want to slice into bite-sized pieces. In a skillet (with a bit of olive oil), you’ll saute the garlic, then the tomato, and then zucchini, adding the basil last. Top it with lemon juice from a half of a lemon. This low cal dish is flavorful, filling, and simple.

Go Greek with this sure-fire salad. The infusion of a small amount of very flavorful ingredients makes this salad stand out amongst others. Finely chop half a garlic clove and three kalamata olives. Create a salad dressing with a tablespon of oiive oil, a tablespoon of vinegar, and the minced olives and garlic. Fill your bowl with any low cal veggies you like – tomatoes, greens, celery, peppers, carrots – and drizzle this amazingly good and potent dressing over them. Top it off with freshly ground black pepper and a teensy sprinkling of grated cheese.

Keep yourself thin by collecting low cal recipes that work for you.

When it comes to dumbbells you may wish to consider your options. You can get dumbbells that are individual set weights. The only downside is they tend to use up a lot of room. You can also look into adjustable dumbbells. You can get a basic set with different weighted plates, which can be fairly inexpensive. I like the Cap Barbell 40pound set because it has a nice storage case which uses up little room. The other option is dumbbells that are adjustable via mechanical means such as Bowflexs Adjustable Dumbbell.

I also enjoy having resistance bands or cords to use. Dumbbells work great on your arms, but bands can be used for your back and legs as well. You can purchase bands individually or as a set. These take up very little space and are easy to take with on vacation. When you use resistance bands you don’t know the exact weight you are dealing with as you would with a dumbbell. The great tension, the more work your muscles are required.

Another great tip is using your resistance bands or dumbbells while sitting on an exercise ball. You will force your core muscles to work hard to keep you balanced. Your core muscles are vital to your posture and also the health of your back. I consider an exercise ball a must have for any house. If you would like to learn more about exercising with a exercise ball I highly recommend Strength Ball Training as a reference book.

You might not think of a bath as being anything spectacular – might in fact think of it as just a way to get clean. But when you soak your body in hot water, it allows your muscles to loosen, which is important after a stressful day. In addition to your body feeling more relaxed, it will also be made healthier, as you will sweat toxins into the water when you rest in a hot bath.

As for helping to relax your mind also, one thing you can do is simply sit in the bath and let the steam do its work as you lounge and think about nothing. But you can ratchet up the mind-related relaxation another notch or two with some aromatherapy experiments. The aromas that will help some people relax might not work for you – and vice versa – so you may need to work through some options until you find the right one for you. When you are choosing different options for aromatherapy, you also have the choice between bath salts and candles; you will certainly be happy with the end result when you find the right one for you, regardless of which way you go! And remember that there is no reason why you cannot mix and match between candles and bath salts, and between different aromas. Try to find several bath salts or candles that work well for you, and experiment with some combinations in order to reach an intense level of relaxation.

Many people – when they get stressed – end up getting more and more stressed, as they try to “press through” until the stress goes away. There are few relaxation methods better than a long, relaxing bath; when you start trying this out yourself, you will find that this is a much better method than simply trying to “press through”!

Actually, the best way to “exercise away” stress and anxiety is to actually exercise, as this will help you release the tension from your body. One problem with this solution is that it can sometimes be difficult to exercise while you are at work during the day – which is the time when you usually need to relieve stress the most. But actually, you can still work out while at work – by simply taking a walk around your building, or by keeping weights under your desk that you can pull out every once in a while to help you unwind.

Breathing exercises are another great way to help relieve the tension that builds up in your body when you are stressed and feeling anxious. Take deep breaths, focusing on your chest rising and falling while you breathe, which will keep you from focusing on the source of your stress. The best thing of all about breathing exercises is that you can do them anywhere, at any time of day.

Stretching is another one of the easiest ways to relieve the stress and tension that sometimes builds up in your body. Stretching is another thing that you can do anywhere – in your home, at work, and even in your car – and in this way you can keep your muscles and the rest of your body loose.

When you are feeling stressed, it can sometimes be difficult to force yourself to take a moment to make sure you are relieving this stress and anxiety. But you will find that you feel much better afterward if you force yourself to do this, and this will help you be ready to tackle the rest of the day.

The philosophy behind a raw food diet is that raw foods have the highest nutrient levels and are the least processed food products and therefore the healthiest. There is some truth behind that statement. By reducing processed foods you cut down on extra salts and sugars going into your system. These two things are linked directly to weight gain and heart related issues. Food which have been processed are commonly heated.

Heated food tends to break down vitamins that exist within the food, making them less nutritous. Thiamine, and folic acid are an example of two vitamins that can deteriorate when cooked. These are important vitamins for our bodies neurological systems, blood sugar chemistry, and DNA synthesis. Heating the food also destroys the enzymes naturally present in the food that many argue are very good for you.

Take into consideration that those who eat raw food are also commonly supportive of organic eating. Organic eating reduces your chances of consuming chemicals which may have been sprayed on during production. This can be a healthier option for both you and the environment in general.

By increasing the amount of raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts you eat the direct health benefits can be weight loss, a healthier heart, and lower cholesterol to name just a few. You don’t have to become a vegetarian but adding one raw vegetarian meal a week can be worth it. For those interested in eating this way there are a number of wonderful resources.

Clothing: A lot of people make the mistake of trying to do yoga on the beach in the same clothes they would usually wear to the beach, but rather than wearing a small bikini, you should simply wear the clothes you usually wear when performing yoga. In this way, you can make sure you are comfortable and have a full range of motion without showing off more of your body than you might have intended to.

Yoga For Anyone!

Time and location: Yoga is supposed to be a relaxing event, but if you end up in an area with a lot of kids running around or college students drinking and yelling, it will not be very relaxing at all! Choose a flat area – preferably with packed sand, such as you will find after the tide has gone out – that is far enough away from all the other action of the beach that you will be able to enjoy some peace and quiet.

Face the sun – or don’t: Although you will often hear yogis advising you to face the sun during your yoga routine – especially when you are doing yoga outside – you can certainly break this rule when you are doing your yoga on the beach! Facing the ocean while doing your yoga can provide the optimal amount of relaxation and unwinding, so if you find this to be the case for yourself, you should not worry about where the sun is so much as you should worry about enjoying the ocean!

Discover Simple Yoga Secrets!

After you have combined all these things, you can enjoy some yoga on the beach that will help you unwind and relax like nearly nothing else can!

If you want a kick butt workout that will use the calories and get you toned, the good old Billy Blanks TaeBo Cardio is a great place to start. These are a great overall workout and you can take it as fast or slow as you need. The more often you work out using it the more you will fee comfortable with it. Though it might be a bit intimidating at first, you can get a real workout from it. Make sure you don’t overdue it the first time, or  you will be quite sore. Stop when you need to but make it a goal to continue building. This video can and will kick your butt and get you moving.

If you are looking for something a bit sassier you could consider the Zumba Fitness Total body Transformation System DVD. You will find yourself dancing your way to fitness. This is a lot of fun especially if you don’t mind making a fool of yourself until you get the hang of it. It won’t take long to break into a sweat from the energetic movement. Lots of people go to live zumba and have a lot of fun doing it. You can get an amazing workout and learn some great dance moves to boot.

These are only 2 of many options available, but they are worth the money. I picked out these two as my favorites because they are very intense and will get you moving and burning calories very quickly. Don’t be afraid to try something new, it is well worth your time.