How to Tone Your Stomach Fast

Don’t know how to tone your stomach fast? The reality is, you can’t lose just your belly fat. You have to lose fat all over your body to flatten out your tummy.

The good news is, however, it’s not as hard as it sounds. Here are five steps that will enable you to lose stomach fat now and keep it off for good. It takes a little planning, but it really works.

1. Choose a target weight.

Can you “pinch an inch” of belly fat? Two inches? A foot?

Your first target weight goal should be inches of belly fat you can pinch between your fingers times 5 if you are weighing yourself in pounds (or 1 kg per cm if your scales are metric). If you can pinch two inches of belly fat, your first weight loss goal should be 10 pounds. At the end of your diet, you want to weight 10 pounds less than you do now.

2. Choose a calorie target.

Now that you know how much want to weigh, you need to figure out how many calories a day you need to eat to reach your goal. If you don’t exercise at all, or you exercise less than 1 hour a week, just multiply your target weight by 10. For instance, if your target weight is 140 pounds, you should eat 1,400 calories a day.

If you exercise more than one hour a week, add 1 to the multiplier for every hour you exercise. Suppose you want to weigh 140 pounds and you work out 2 hours a week. Then multiply 140 times 11 and get a calorie target of 1,540 calories a day. Or if you work out three hours a week and you want to weigh 140 pounds, multiple 140 times 12 for a target of 1,680 calories a day.

3. Eat by the numbers.

Now you need to figure out how those calories should be distributed between protein, fat, and carbohydrate. You need 1 gram of protein for every pound of your target weight. If you are trying to reach 140 pounds, then you need to eat 140 grams of protein every day (although you can probably do OK on less). Every gram of protein is usually labeled as 4 calories, so you’ll need 560 calories a day in the form of protein.

You need 1/2 grams of fat for every gram of body weight. (Yes, even when you are losing weight, your body still needs healthy fats.) So if you intend to weigh 140 pounds, you need 70 grams of fat a day. Every gram of fat is usually considered equivalent to 9 calories, so you need 630 calories a day in the form of fat.

You need some carbohydrate, but not a whole lot. Your body can actually make sugar out of protein if it needs to, but it can’t make its own essential amino acids or essential fatty acids. The carb you eat should be mostly from raw, fresh, crunchy and delicious vegetables, or steamed vegetables, and a couple pieces of fresh fruit. You’ll need 1400 – (630 + 560) = 220 calories a day in the form of carbohydrate, but that is a great deal of raw veggies and fruit, more than enough to keep you full.

4. Allow yourself a cheat meal every three days.

If you eat 1,400 calories each and every day, your metabolism is going to figure out that you are eating less. But if you allow yourself something extra about every tenth meal-and only every tenth meal-your metabolism will keep on burning calories at its customary rate. You actually lose weight faster if you get off your diet about once every three days. You can eat twice much as food as usual at this one meal, but you still need to avoid MSG, high-fructose corn syrup, and food additives. Eat more food, but wholesome food.

5. If you exercise, time your cheat meals to coincide with your heaviest exercise.

Cheat meals are great for building muscle, and you can only create new muscle if your muscles get both carbohydrate and amino acids in the first 90 minutes after heavy exercise. Doing resistance training twice a week, and rewarding hard work with extra food, is a great way to keep losing pounds.

You really do have the willpower to count calories, and every three days, you are entitled to a treat. In fact, the occasional treat not only does not ruin your diet, it helps you tone your stomach faster. Diet and exercise really do tone your stomach, and if you allow yourself occasional pleasures, you can keep the pounds off for good.

Interested in further information. Take a look here.

Fat-Free Diet Exposed

First of all, there are two versions of this diet:

1. A diet that tries to eliminate all sources of fat.
   
   This diet is actually a very low fat diet. It would be nearly impossible to avoid eating any fat. This is, like any other macronutrient reduction diet, a bad idea. It takes the insanity of the low-fat diet to new extremes, producing even less positive effects and even more negative effects.
   
   Use this diet only if becoming fatter and weaker is your goal.
   
2. A diet that replaces many normal foods with fat-free varieties.
   
   This can be of value, depending on the foods so replaced and what you replace them with.
   
   An example of a bad replacement is fat-free (or low-fat) peanut butter. The manufacturer takes a very healthy oil (one that will actually help you keep the fat off your body) with one of the worst sugars you can possibly eat--maltodextrin. Fat-free yogurts with fruit flavors are also a disaster--read the labels!
   
   An example of a good replacement is plain fat-free yogurt. But, read the label to make absolutely sure it's plain and doesn't have junk added to it. There are some fancy names for sugar, so don't assume something listed is not sugar just because you have no clue what it actually is. Ditto for fat-free or reduced fat cottage cheese.

Where this diet fails

What matters is how many calories you consume, not how much fat. You can't escape the basic physics, here. It takes 3,500 calories to make a pound of fat--reduce calories, and you reduce fat. Increase calories, and you increase fat. It doesn't matter what kinds of calories those are--it takes 3,500 of them to make a pound of fat.

This diet doesn't address the calorie equation, but it does deprive your body of many important nutrients. And that means that while you are not losing the fat you want to lose (though you may be losing weight in the form of healthy tissue or just water), you are damaging your skin and creating other health problems for yourself.

The Positive Weight Loss Approach

Once you have made up your mind to lose weight, you should make that commitment and go into it with a positive attitude. We all know that losing weight can be quite a challenge. In fact, for some, it can be downright tough. It takes time, practice and support to change lifetime habits. But it's a process you must learn in order to succeed. You and you alone are the one who has the power to lose unwanted pounds. 

Think like a winner, and not a loser - - remember that emotions are like muscles and the ones you use most grow the strongest. If you always look at the negative side of things, you'll become a downbeat, pessimistic person. Even slightly negative thoughts have a greater impact on you and last longer than powerful positive thoughts.

Negative thinking doesn't do you any good, it just holds you back from accomplishing the things you want to do. When a negative thought creeps into your mind, replace it reminding yourself that you're somebody, you have self-worth and you possess unique strengths and talents.Contemplate what lies ahead of you. Losing weight is not just about diets. It's about a whole new you and the possibility of creating a new life for yourself. Investigate the weight loss programs that appeal to you and that you feel will teach you the behavioral skills you need to stick with throughout the weight-loss process. First you should look for support among family and friends. It can be an enormous help to discuss obstacles and share skills and tactics with others on the same path. You might look for this support from others you know who are in weight loss programs and you can seek guidance from someone you know who has lost weight and kept it off. .

There are success stories across the country today. On television and in newspapers, magazines and tabloids about people who have miraculously lost untold pounds and kept it off. In all instances they say their mental attitude as well as their outlook on life has totally changed. 

Diets and weight loss programs are more flexible now than they once were and there are many prepared foods already portioned out. They are made attractive and can be prepared in a matter of minutes. Low-fat and low-calorie foods are on shelves everywhere.

You will probably need to learn new, wiser eating skills. You will want a weight loss regimen that gives you some control, rather than imposing one rigid system. Look for one that offers a variety of different eating plans, so you can choose the one that's best for you. 

Keep in mind, too, that your weight loss program will most likely include some physical exercises. Look at the exercising aspect of your program as fun and recreation and not as a form of grueling and sweaty work. The fact is that physical fitness is linked inseparable to all personal effectiveness in every field. Anyone willing to take the few simple steps that lie between them and fitness will shortly begin to feel better, and the improvement will reflect itself in every facet of their existence.

Doctors now say that walking is one of the best exercises. It helps the total circulation of blood throughout the body, and thus has a direct effect on your overall feeling of health. There are things such as aerobics, jogging, swimming and many other exercises which will benefit a weight loss program. Discuss the options with your doctor and take his advice in planning your exercise and weight loss program.

Use the anabolic diet or carb cycling for natural weight loss and muscle gain Learn more

The anabolic diet and carb cycling program are similar eating plans that naturally burn fat and spare muscle. The main concern for athletes and weightlifters when dieting is that the reduction of calories could cause a loss of muscle because the body needs calories to maintain muscle mass. Both of these plans help achieve weight loss without sacrificing muscle. They also do not involve severe calorie or food restriction, which could lead to unhealthy weight loss or malnutrition, but there are some differences.

Basics

The anabolic diet is based on a book of the same name by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale. It is a low-carbohydrate diet based on alternating low-carb and high-carb days. The diet claims to work by encouraging the body burn fat instead of carbs.

According to The Anabolic Diet book, burning fat may lead to fewer hunger cravings making it easier to adhere to the diet. Carb cycling is different because it involves alternating high carb and low-to-moderate carb days following a workout schedule. High-carb days are for working out hard and replenishing glyocgen stores, a substance the body uses for fuel. Lower carb days burn fat.

Anabolic diet

The principal of the anabolic diet is to make the body a fat-burning machine. Followers start with one week of only low carb eating to make the body start burning fat for energy instead of carbs. After week one, the diet recommends eating low carbs during the week and high amounts of carbs on the weekends.

Alternating low and high carbs days prevents the body from reverting to burning mainly carbs for fuel. The higher carb days also allow the body to replenish fuel used during vigorous exercise.

Carb cycling

Carb cycling allows more freedom in scheduling which days are low-to-moderate carb days and which are high carbs; people can match their more intense workout days to their high carb days. Rest days and light workout days lend themselves to eating fewer carbs and lets the body burn fat for fuel.

Fat

A major difference between the two diets is fat intake. Carb cycling suggests followers eat low fat, even as little as possible on high carb days. This is especially beneficial for people who like fatty foods. The anabolic diet allows people to eat 15 to 20 percent of calories from fat on high carb days when the body is geared to burn fat.

Protein

The diets also differ on protein intake. The anabolic diet allows for one-third of calories to come from protein. Carb cycling has specific protein recommendations: between 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight on high carb days and between 1.25 and 1.75 grams per pound on other days. Both eating plans ensure people eat sufficient protein to build and maintain muscle.

Choosing a diet

People with demanding work schedules may prefer the anabolic diet because eating the same on each week day is simpler. People who engage in high-intensity workouts during the week may prefer carb cycling. However, people react differently to low-carbohydrate diets. One of these plans may work better for certain people depending on what their bodies naturally need.