Girl, Female, She, Her, Lady, Femme
Last week it was established that:
1. Yes, you can target belly fat.
2. Belly fat burns so much quicker than other body fat.

I was not in dreamland when I made those statements, and I think you get it that belly fat can be targeted. Those of you who are 30 Days to Lean members have lived this truth by immersing yourselves in a better way of eating. This cleaner way of eating targets fat especially in the mid section where it is most damaging to our health as well as where we despise having it the most. Now I know that many of you say, “I can’t be helped in losing weight.” You may say things like, ” I eat healthy Kim. I eat clean. I’m a healthy eater, and I barely eat many calories!”  And to that I say, ” You are missing the point. That is old style thinking. We cannot lose weight when we are eating like birds!”

You See 

That part of you that says, “let me just count calories, and increase my exercise and I’ll lose weight”, attitude is killing your ability to lose weight” Funny thing is, if you ask yourself how often you have went on this “old style thinking type of diet” only to find out that you end up fatter, it is probably for many many years!  I am here to  say stop that! ( in a nice way) A mind shift is needed.

A Review But New Information Too

Below are the three things that people are doing or not doing that sabotage their efforts at losing fat in the middle. * The asterick indicates what you should work on right now to remove belly fat.  No procrastination!. No crying! And no saying “no!” Let’s get this job done guys!

1. Exercise. Slow and steady exercise burns belly fat. The more you do it, the more fat you burn. But you can’t increase your stress in the process. Walking or very light jogging is best. The average person will ignore this advice and keep burning themselves out and then wondering why their food and sugar cravings are through the roof.

* What To Do Now

walk daily for 30- 60 minutes at a low intensity. Low intensity means below 70% of your maximum heart rate. To get your heart rate at 70% of it’s maximum do the following: subtract your age from 220 and multiply it by .70. The number you get is a guideline to use  for your walks.

If you are a bit fitter and can jog keeping your heart rate under 70% of it’s maximum than you may jog. Note – jog /walking is a good option for those of you in between fitness levels. The key here is to keep your cortisol ( belly fat hormone ) low and not raging high. Doing so will decrease your belly fat ( notice it is not the calories you burn that I am counting – old style) while keeping your appetite in check. Maintaining a healthy, ” I look forward to eating appetite is central to weigh loss vs a “I am a raging hungry maniac because I worked out like a “raging bull and I need to consume everything in site,” becomes a problem while in the process of losing weight. Be low key guys. That is if you really want to focus on weight loss. I, like some of you love to work out and play hard, but this is not the time. What you are essentially doing when you work out so hard is not just increasing cortisol, but giving yourself permission to eat poorly instead of focusing on the food you eat to decrease belly fat. This is not the case for some people, but I tend to think that it is for many people. They train in the gym so they may overindulge. Not too cool.

2. Reduce stress. The other thing you must do when you are in the process of  losing weight is to reduce stress. This of course goes hand in hand with moderate light exercise which reduces stress but there are other things that one can do to reduce stress during this time period of weight loss.*What To Now

Image result for daily life and routines

Find Your Daily Routines

In great part members of the 30 Days to Lean program are so successful because they are forming new routines built around food. I have helped them incorporate the mindset of “when we eat – we eat!” No guilt. We eat breakfast. We eat lunch. And we eat dinner. My members will tell you, they look forward to the new eating routine and when they eat, they enjoy it. This is the missing link in old style dieting. But here’s the thing, when they do not eat-they do not eat. This is the beauty of forming a routine of eating. Not only can we look forward to eating because we have not mindlessly snacked all day, but we have better blood sugar and hormonal balance because we are not asking our pancreas to work in overdrive.

The psychology of new eating routines is, as one members says very liberating. At first, it seems intimidating to suggest one does not snack, but as members settle in and begin to make sense of this whole concept of weight loss, they begin to get it! And what I love even more about this idea of eating and enjoying real food 3 times a day is that science says, we lose more weight, more quickly when we stop eating in between meals! No snacking is a winner all the way around. I like to say to my members, “the goal should be to eat like you mean it and enjoy every bit, then go on with your life!” Having this attitude is a must to real weight loss for a lifetime.

How Eating Like This Reduces Stress

The food industry perpetuates the idea of constantly eating. Food is everywhere and I believe it is stressing us out in a very bad way. So many people tell me they constantly think about food, and that they cannot imagine not having one or even several snacks throughout the day and evening. The bottom line is that what we focus on, we stress about. Some people do not think about food all day long, but when it comes to the evening, bang, they are focused on it all night long. This is not good. We need to eat, and enjoy, then be done with it- waking up feeling great the next morning and starting all over. This is normal. And it’s what we are doing in the 30 Days to Lean Plan.

Is it difficult to not eat between meals? It can be initially. Can you do it? Maybe. Maybe not. You have to be motivated to change and this is a big reason I never try to convince people that it is simple. If it was simple from the onset, everyone would be lean and mean. The best part? When it becomes simple life changes for the good. That’s when we call it a lifestyle change, but you gotta  have the right head, the right attitude, and the motivation to change.

3. You have to address insulin resistance. This is the toughest of the three things to do to lose belly fat.  And it takes changes toyour diet, not just eating less. This is why the Top 3 Diets fail in the long run, because they do not address this point. 

* What To Do Now

Stay tuned For Lose Your waist Wednesday May 13th.

Hint: It’s about what we eat, not how much. And even though I mention slow cardiovascular exercise like walking as a means to lose weight, know that it is what we eat that has the number one impact on belly fat loss and weight loss in general. So in other words, if you want to lose weight real fast and real smart, you must eat the right foods. Exercising your buns and belly off is lowest in effectiveness of the three most effective go to’s for weight loss that I have listed here today.