How to Watch Your Waistline

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute recommends maintaining a healthy weight to improve your overall health. Too much belly fat increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers. A few lifestyle tweaks can help you reduce belly fat and leave you with a slimmer waistline.

1

Track the calories you consume each day by logging them in a journal or at an online calorie counter. Use that information to keep within calorie guidelines for your weight and activity level. For example, a 140-lb. female who exercises three days per week should consume between 1,410 to 1,763 calories per day to maintain a healthy weight.

2

Exercise three to five days a week to lose belly fat. Cardiovascular exercises such as aerobic classes, walking or jogging burn excess calories. In many cases, belly bulge shrinks first when you begin a consistent exercise routine.

3

Maintain a healthy diet by consuming lean protein, such as fish, chicken and low-fat or fat-free cuts of beef. Replace white bread and refined sugars with complex carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables. Always read nutrition labels to track caloric intake and reduce the amount of calories you consume or trim your portion sizes if you are trying to lose belly fat.

4

Avoid eating after 8 p.m. when your metabolism slows down. If you find yourself hungry late at night, have a filling snack of an apple or banana. Or drink a glass of water if hunger strikes at night.

5

Decrease your stress level. High stress causes cortisol levels to rise in your body, which can lead to an increased appetite. It also causes the food you eat to turn to fat that settles in the waistline area. Cardiovascular exercise helps reduce stress as well as a peaceful yoga session.

 

3 EASY WAY TO KEEP YOUR WAIST LINE SMALL.

Dieting and exercise—two dirty words hated by most. While no, diet and exercise isn’t really something one trying to lose weight finds enjoyable, they are the safer alternatives to undergoing cosmetic surgery and consuming diet pills.
Not only are these drastic measures to lose weight expensive, but they can ultimately result in death.  However, if you want to lose weight but aren’t truly prepared to go full throttle at the gym or go cold turkey on your favorite foods just yet, there are some small and most importantly natural things you can do to help you start battling the bulge sans dieting and exercising. Continue reading to figure out what those things are.

1) Control Stress LeveLs             

First and foremost, one of the easiest ways to lose or maintain your weight is to find ways to release build up tension and stress. This can include taking a few days off of work to go on a vacation, heading to the spa, doing some retail therapy or simply getting away from the kids for a few hours. This is said because when one is stressed, your coritosol levels in your body increases.

This special hormone is what triggers emotional eating and in short makes you crave salty and sweet foods—foods that are known to pack on the pounds.  Ironically exercising does in fact help relieve stress, but other options can be as simple as taking a hot steamy bath, mediating or crying. Yes, when one cries feel-bad chemicals are flushed out of the system and in-turn improves one’s mood.

2) Move Around, A lot

While most don’t like to exercise, sometimes the things that we find most enjoyable are in fact forms of exercising. For example, dancing in stiletto heels is an excellent way to simultaneously have fun, get that heart rate going, and tone your legs. There are numerous other ways to keep yourself active and have a blast while doing it. For example activities can include swimming, playing a sport with your friends or kids, riding your bicycle or even something as minor as taking a stroll in the mall. The trick is to move as much as possible.

3) Minimize Portion Sizes

This doesn’t mean you have to stop eating your favorite foods entirely, but reducing the portion sizes can help you maintain your weight substantially. A good way to trick yourself into believing that you are eating your normal portion size to simply place the food item on a smaller plate. To keep it up a notch, try placing the food item on blue plate as well—studies show that the color blue (and other dark colors) acts as a natural hunger suppressant and can curve one’s appetite while bright colors such as red have the reversed effect.

  

THE 30- MINUTE FITNESS BLITZ...

Think you don't have time to work out? You do. It's the intensity of your workout that's key. A short–burst, high–intensity workout boosts your metabolism and tones muscles. Get moving with this 30–minute "quickie" routine that includes cardio training and resistance training for each major muscle group.

If you're new to exercise, over 40, have a health problem, or take regular medication, check with your doctor before starting a fitness program.

Beginner Squats: for Thighs

If you're new at this, get started with a beginner version of squats using an exercise ball. Stand against a wall with the ball at your low back, feet hip–width apart and out in front. Slowly lower your body by folding at the hips and bending the knees, dropping glutes toward the floor; slowly move back to the starting position. Your knees should remain over your heels. Perform 10 challenging repetitions.

Squats: for Thighs

Once you're ready, try squats without an exercise ball. For good form: Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and your back straight. Bend your knees and lower your rear as if you were sitting down, keeping your knees over your ankles. To target more muscle groups in less time, add an overhead press at the same time. With a dumbbell in each hand, rise from the squat position and push weights overhead, palms out. Really focus on good form. Perform 10 repetitions.

Forward Lunge: for Thighs

Standing with feet hip–width apart, take a big step forward with one leg, then lower your body toward the floor, front knee aligned with ankle, back knee pointing to the floor. Return to the starting position, and repeat by stepping forward with the other leg. For more challenge, hold a free weight in both hands and complete the lunge with a rotation in the torso, twisting the body toward the forward leg. Perform 10 repetitions on each side.

Romanian Deadlift: for Hamstrings

To perform a deadlift holding a body bar or free weights, stand up straight with feet hip–width apart. Fold at your hips, moving the hips backward as you lower your upper body parallel to the floor. Keep the legs straight without locking the knees, and keep the back level and the spine in neutral. Lower the weight to just below your knees, then slowly return to the starting position. Perform 10 repetitions.

The Bridge: for Hamstrings

The bridge works the glutes (butt), hamstrings, and core. Lying on your back with knees bent and feet hip-width apart, peel your spine off the floor, starting at the tailbone, forming a diagonal line from knees down to shoulders. Slowly return to the starting position. For an extra challenge: Target your triceps by holding light weights, lifting your arms ceilingward as you raise your hips, see right. Bend your elbows to lower the weights towards the floor. Perform 10 repetitions.

Push-Ups: for Chest & Core

Let's move to the upper body. Push-ups strengthen the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core muscles. Lying face-down, place hands a bit wider than your shoulders. Place toes on the floor, creating a smooth line from shoulders to feet. Keeping core muscles engaged, lower and lift your body by bending and straightening your elbows. Too hard? Place knees on the floor instead of toes. To boost the workout, add an exercise ball under the hips, knees, or feet. Perform 10 repetitions.

Chest Press: for the Chest

Instead of push-ups you can try the chest press with weights. Lie face-up on a bench, with knees bent or feet on the floor, spine relaxed. Press a body bar or free weights from your chest, see left, toward the ceiling. Extend your arms but don’t lock the elbows, and move slowly in both directions, keeping shoulder blades on the bench. For an extra challenge, do the chest press with your head and upper back on an exercise ball. Perform 10 repetitions.

Bent-Over Row: for Back & Biceps

The bent-over row works all the major muscles of the upper back, as well as the biceps. Begin the exercise in a bent-over position with your back flat, one knee and one hand on the same side of the body braced on a bench. Hold a free weight in the other hand with arm extended, see left. Lift the weight toward the hip until the upper arm is just beyond horizontal, see right. Then slowly lower weight to the starting position. Perform 10 repetitions.

Shoulder Press: for Shoulders

A shoulder press works the shoulder muscles and can be performed standing or seated. For extra back support, use a bench with a back rest. Begin with elbows bent and weights at shoulders, see left. Slowly reach toward the ceiling, keeping the elbows under the hands and the shoulders away from the ears; slowly lower back to the starting position. Perform 10 repetitions.

Cable Pull Down: for Upper Back

For the last upper body exercise, do the cable pull down, which works the upper back. Using a cable machine, sitting straight with a neutral spine, grasp the bar with arms extended, see left. Slowly pull the bar down past the face and toward the chest. Only go as far as you can without leaning back, and control the weight on the way back up. Perform 10 repetitions.

Bicycle Crunch: for Core & Abdominals

Lying on your back on the floor, fold knees toward the chest and curl the upper body off the floor. With hands behind head, slowly rotate upper body to the right while drawing the right knee in and reaching the left leg out. Then rotate left and pull the left knee in and extend right leg out. Focus on bringing the shoulder toward the hip (rather than the elbow to the knee), and keep the opposite shoulder off the floor. Perform 10 repetitions.

Side Plank: for Core or Abdominals

For another abdominal alternative, lie on your side with a bent elbow directly under your shoulder, and use your torso muscles to lift the body up into a side plank, see above. Then lift the hips higher, then back to the plank, then lower. Do as many as you can with proper form, then repeat on the other side.

Have You Completed 20 Minutes?

Before moving on to the cardio portion of the workout, be sure you've completed 20 minutes of resistance training. If you have, now's a good time for a water break to keep your muscles well-hydrated. If you haven't, go back and start the circuit over again until you reach the 20 minute goal.

Cardiovascular Training

Vary the intensity during your cardio workout. Use intense intervals, taking about a minute to get from moderate speed to intense. Whether you're on the stair-stepper, the elliptical trainer, or the treadmill, do:

• 30 seconds of the highest speed you can tolerate, then 30 seconds of normal speed.

• Then 30 seconds of the stiffest resistance you can handle, then 30 seconds of normal.

Keep moving back and forth between speed and resistance until you've completed 10 minutes.

Frequency of Workout

Perform this 30-minute workout routine every other day, or do it two days in a row if that better suits your schedule. These are not hardcore bodybuilding-style routines where the high degree of muscular overload requires full rest to recover. For a healthy body, work out regularly and eat a healthy diet.