21 Flat Belly Tips

Has a little extra padding around your midsection gotten you down? We understand. When you’re as busy as we are, it gets easier and easier to reach for processed or fast foods, and to drive past the gym while shuttling the kids to soccer practice.  Believe it or not, maintaining a slim physique may be easier than you think. By following some simple tips, anyone can earn a flat belly without a whole lot of extra effort. Read on for 21 tips that will help you get the flat belly that you wish you had.

21 Flat Belly Tips:

1. Eat Clean-No number of crunches will eliminate belly fat if you’re not eating a nutritious diet. Aim for clean foods that are free of unhealthy additives and extra calories. Skinny Ms. offers a ton of simple, yet clean recipes to help you out.

2. Watch Portion Sizes- In today’s day and age, it seems like everything is “Supersized”. Go old-school by eating just the amount of food you need to keep your body going. Check out our tips for understanding portion sizes here.

3. Just Say, “NO,” to Soda- Sodas, even diet ones, are horrible for your waistline. Battling soda addiction? Take our No Soda Challenge.

4. Rev up Your Cardio-Regular cardiovascular exercise not only helps the body to burn calories and fat, but it helps prevent a number of diseases, like heart disease and certain cancers. Try these at-home workouts.

5. Snack Regularly-Snacking regularly provides the body with the fuel it needs to continue burning calories all day long. Plus, those who skip snacks between meals are for more likely to overeat at mealtime. Try one of these tasty snacks for fewer than 75 calories each.

6. Keep a Food Journal- Journaling your daily food intake will help you stay on track and will keep you aware of hidden calories. Read more about the benefits of keeping a food journal here.

7. Keep Stress Low- Studies show that stress has quite a negative impact on our bodies. Plus, when we’re stressed, we tend to eat more or choose unhealthy foods. Learn more about how stress can make you fat here.

8. Work Every Angle- Total body workouts help to keep all muscles active so that they can continue to burn calories, even when they’re at rest. Mix your workouts up to keep every muscle group engaged. Try this Total Body Workout.

9. Fill Up on Fiber- Avoid bloating by keeping everything flowing smoothly with a diet filled with fiber. Check out these reasons why you need more fiber in your diet.

10. Get Your Zzzz’s- Studies show that sleep is important to maintaining adequate body function, as it gives the body time to repair the damage done during the day. Learn more about sleep and its connection to weight loss here.

11. Drink Green Tea- The combination of catechins and antioxidants found in green tea helps the body to burn calories and fight fat. Plus, green tea is a superfood! Try our Green Tea Mango Smoothie.

12. Do Plenty of Planks- Plank exercises are great for the midsection because they work the entire core, are easy to modify, and can be done without any equipment right in your living room. Learn how to do a proper plank here.

13. Watch Your Sugar Intake- Refined sugars feed your body a ton of calories and have no nutritional value, and the problem is that they’re hidden in many of the foods you eat. Here are some of the “other” names for sugar to look out for. Be sure to take our No Sugar Challenge.

14. Walk More- Walking just doesn’t get enough credit. It’s so easy to do and is one of the greatest ways to burn fat. Take our 7-Day Fat Blaster Walking Challenge.

15. Watch Your Carbs- Carbohydrates are important to your body, but not all carbs are created equal. Try to avoid simple carbs, like white breads, because they offer a lot of calories and almost no nutritional value. Learn more about the difference between simple vs. complex carbs here.

16. Keep Sodium in Check- Excess salt in your diet can make you retain water and get bloated. Check out these tips for cutting back on salt.

17. Get Into Interval Training- Interval training, like this Tabata workout, gets the body working hard so that it can blast fat away. Learn more about interval training here.

18. Ditch the Diet Foods- Diet foods might sound healthy, but they are often loaded with unwanted ingredients that reduce the body’s ability to function as it was intended. Instead, get on a healthy eating plan, like this Clean Eating Plan for the Family.

19. Eat Slowly- The body can take up to 20-30 minutes to digest the foods we eat. This means, if we’re not careful, we can end up eating food after we’re full. Eating slowly also prevents us from swallowing extra air that will bloat the belly.

20. Become a Probiotic Pro- Probiotics, like yogurt and kefir, use healthy bacteria to fight back against unhealthy ones. This keeps the belly free from infection and prevents bloating.Have you tried our Skinny Strawberry Yogurt?

21. Laugh More- Studies show that people who laugh regularly are often thinner than those who don’t. Not only does laughter engage the stomach muscles and burn calories, but happy people are less likely to reach for unhealthy food choices when they’re feeling down.

http://skinnyms.com/21-flat-belly-tips/

How To Shed The Weight Gained After A Health Crisis

Since I have experienced a challenging health diagnosis, I've put roughly 25 pounds on a once-lanky frame. I went through the "7 Stages of Grief" solely over my weight, but am now learning valuable lessons as to how to not only accept my body, but to love it during the transition back to health! 

For those of you healing from a health crisis that landed you in a sedentary lifestyle (for months or years), I'd love to share my tips to shed the layers of weight you might have gained after a health crisis. 

1. Change your perspective.  

Practice gratitude for your returned functionality and what your body is enabling you to do again—whether that be walking, jogging, shopping, sitting up, socializing, etc.  Rather than berate and criticize your body for its change in shape, celebrate your progress and thank your limbs for what they're able to do again!

2. Be patient.  

This one is hard (I know!) but you truly need to be patient while your body is slowly gaining momentum....particularly your endocrine system. Your adrenals, thyroid, hormones, and neurotransmitters have most likely taken a significant hit leading up to your illness and when your downfall in health occurred. It's a lengthy process your body has to undergo to find its way back to healthy. 

3. Eat a primarily whole foods, plant-based diet.  

Let go of processed food, sugar, soy and gluten. Help your body along in the healing process and fuel your body with large servings of greens each day, which will aid in digestion, increase metabolism, and help stabilize your emotions. 

4. Make a list each day of what you love about yourself and include what you love about your body.

You must love some physical feature, whether that be your legs, eyes, smile, or skin. Accentuate what you love the most! (Wear skirts to show off your legs, pull your hair back to showcase your glowing skin, etc.) Celebrate your body and how far it has come!

5. Visit an integrative physician.  

I'd visit an integrative physician in your city to do lab tests to determine whether or not your body's functionality is being railroaded by some aspect of what it has gone through. This could be an issue with your thyroid, hormones, or something else entirely. 

This the only body you have so you are stuck with it. Please love yourself and feel blessed at how lucky you are to be able to run and play in this glorious sunshine!

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9325/how-to-shed-the-weight-gained-after-a-health-crisis.html

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

5 Reasons to Drink More Water

The general rule of thumb: Eat fiber to keep things, er, moving. Now, though, a new study published in The American Journal of Gastroenterologyfinds that staying hydrated may be more important than eating fiber for staying regular.

Researchers analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data on about 9,000 adults from between 2005 and 2008. The researchers were interested in determining if people who consumed less fiber and liquid had a higher likelihood of…irregularity. And yep, both men and women who had low dietary sources of liquid were more likely to have TMI problems. But—and here’s the shocker—low fiber intake wasn’t associated with the same effect.

Water keeps your body running—it helps regulate your body temperature, keeps your joints cushioned, protects your spinal cord and other sensitive tissues, and gets rid of waste through sweating, peeing, and the like, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Here are a few more reasons to hydrate on the regular:

It could help you lose weight
In a study published in the journal Obesity in 2010, adult dieters who drank a bottle of water before each meal for 12 weeks lost more weight than the dieters who didn’t drink the water beforehand. We’ll drink (water) to that!

It may prevent kidney disease
People who consume the most fluids have a significantly lower risk of chronic kidney disease, according to a 2011 study out of the University of Sydney in Australia.

It can make you run faster—and safer
In a 2011 study, 14 runners completed two sets of laps—one in which they showed up hydrated and got water during breaks, and one in which they had to limit their fluid intake during the run and for 22 hours beforehand. When they were able to get their hydration on, the runners had faster times and lower gastrointestinal body temperatures and healthier heart rates post-run.

It’ll put you in a better mood
In a study published last year in The Journal of Nutrition, mildly dehydrated young women experienced headaches, fatigue, worsened mood, and difficulty concentrating. Yikes.

Ready to drink up now? Make sure you know the real deal on water-drinking myths, then refill your water bottle.

Additional reporting by Caitlin Carlson

http://blog.womenshealthmag.com/scoop/drink-more-water/

Why Most People Fail to Lose Weight

By Susan Campbell on May 23, 2013

By the time my weight loss clients finally seek out my guidance to help them lose their unwanted body fat, most have been trying unsuccessfully on their own for months, even years, to accomplish their goals.

They’re frustrated.

There’s many reasons why these people fail to lose weight.

Some of them “think” they’re eating a diet appropriate for weight loss.

Some are still sitting on the couch hoping to lose weight without any physical activity.

Many people are in chronic research mode. They just keep reading books about how to lose weight and scouring the internet for that one tip that has somehow eluded them. They never really shift into action mode and actually put into practice anything they’ve learned.

Others are tire kickers – they jump from one “miracle” weight loss plan to the next, without giving much time for any of them to actually work.

There’s even a few who really haven’t tried very much at all and still claim they “can’t lose weight”?

Sound familiar?

Over time though, I’ve started to notice a trend among these people – a common theme that bonds all of them together. It’s the fact that they’re all lacking this one ingredient in the recipe for losing weight.

It’s unfortunate too, because I consider this missing ingredient the absolute foundation of an effective weight loss program. Meaning, without it their efforts won’t be sustained for very long before the whole plan crumbles.

Epic fail.

Laying a Proper Weight Loss Foundation

This missing ingredient that I’m referring to is weight loss motivation.

Now I’m not talking about the average motivators, such as your doctor telling you that you should lose a few pounds or your pants don’t fit anymore.

Those are fine reasons to want to lose weight and, for some people, they might be significant enough to make a difference. However, for the majority of us they won’t be powerful enough to make us do the work.

I’m talking about intrinsic motivation, the kind of motivation that you’re really passionate about. An internal drive so strong that you will not let any obstacle get in the way of you accomplishing your weight loss goals.

An intrinsic motivator is your significant reason for taking your weight loss journey, and it’s the difference between you succeeding or failing to meet your weight loss goals.

Do you have this internal drive?

Let me share with you a brief story about a former weight loss client of mine, I will call her Olivia.

Olivia was a 38 year old wife and mother of two young daughters, ages 3 and 5. She worked as an elementary school teacher.

Olivia was overweight by about 50 pounds – and counting. At her most recent physical, her doctor informed her that she was pre-diabetic and that she needed to lose quite a bit of weight.

She had gained a decent amount of weight with both pregnancies, but after the birth of her second daughter she really didn’t lose much of the weight she’d gained during that time around.

Naturally, with two children the time you take for yourself becomes non-existant. Therefore, she didn’t get enough time to workout, let alone have the energy to do so. Her diet was unfortunately built around convenience food.

Once the kids started to be more independent, however, she did find more time to be healthier and do all of the things necessary to finally lose her unwanted body fat. She made a good effort for about 1 year, losing a few pounds here and there, but didn’t see the results she desired.

After that, her desire and efforts waned. She went back to old habits and started making poor food choices once again. She began to get used to the idea of being pre-diabetic and accepted the prognosis as her fate. There was nothing she could do about it.

It wasn’t long after that until Olivia sought out my help.

Apparently, her oldest daughter had recently gotten a similar diagnosis of pre-diabetes. Naturally, children look to their parents as models for appropriate behavior. What she saw from her mom is that she could eat what she wanted, when she wanted and that it was ok to spend the majority of her free time sitting inside watching TV.

This really opened Olivia’s eyes.

She knew she needed to make drastic diet and exercise changes for not only herself but for her entire family. And this time was going to be different, because she had a strong, intrinsic motivator to help keep her headed in the right direction.

Before her daughter’s diagnosis, Olivia didn’t have a passionate reason to lose her excess weight, despite being told by her doctor to do so. But once she identified with a reason significant enough to get her to do the work, there wasn’t anything going to get in her way of success.

Finding Your Internal Motivation

If you have extra body fat you have been working to get rid of for any length of time but haven’t succeeded I suggest you take a deeper look into the reasons you’re making the attempt.

See if you can change your average motivator (that really hasn’t been significant enough to drive you to make changes to start a diet and exercise program) into one that you could be passionate about.

Here are a few examples, just to name a few:

• you want to be a healthy role model for your kids.
• you want to be alive for your child’s wedding.
• your wedding is in a few months and you want to look foxy.
• you want to live a long, but healthy life.
• you want to get back into the pants you wore in college.

These are just a few examples I could think of, maybe you can think of a few more.

There are a few other things you can do to help you get and keep the motivation you need to lose weight, I wrote about them in another blog post that you can check out here:

http://weightlosslaboratory.com/5-fast-weight-loss-tips

In any case, have a reason for losing weight that you can be passionate about. With a strong motivation foundation and a few tweaks to your diet and exercise program there will be no way you will fail at meeting your weight loss goals.

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Susan Campbell is an Amazon #1 Best-Selling Fitness Author and shares her best fitness and nutrition info on her weight loss blog, the Weight Loss Laboratory. She has been helping people reach their fitness and weight loss goals since 1998. Find Susan on Google +.

http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/why-most-people-fail-to-lose-weight/

16 Tips to Weight Loss Bliss:

Whether you are in a wedding, getting married or simply want to lose some weight, below are 16 Tips to Weight Loss Bliss. If some extra cushioning around your middle has left you feeling anything, but confident, then we can help. The following 16 tips will help you to live a healthy lifestyle, allowing your body to burn fat and leave you feeling good about yourself, inside and out.

1. Set a Goal

There’s no sense in getting on the road if you don’t know where you’re going. Set a realistic and specific goal for yourself. For instance, you might say, “I would like to lose 10 pounds before the wedding, to do that, I need to lose 1 week per week.” Check out these Tips for Setting Healthy Goals.

2. Create a PlanYou’ll never reach your goals if you don’t have a plan to do so. Create a realistic plan for yourself that is centered on a healthy diet and exercise. Include when you will exercise and what you will do when temptations arise in your plans.

Be sure to check out our 6 Week Emergency Makeover Program.

3. Find a PartnerFor most people, it’s much easier to stay on track if they have a partner to motivate and inspire them along the way. If your future groom isn’t ready and willing, enlist the help of a friend or family member, or visit our Skinny Ms. Facebook Page.

4. Keep a JournalBy logging your food and exercise on paper, you will be able to easily monitor your progress. Plus, you’ll be far less likely to overindulge or skip the gym if you have to admit it to yourself in writing. Be sure to check out our helpful information on keeping a Food Journal or a Fitness Journal.

5. Eat CleanWe, at Skinny Ms., are huge proponents of clean-eating. By filling up on foods created with body-nourishing ingredients, you’ll ensure that your body is able to function the way it was intended. Give our Skinny Clean Eating Plan for Two a try.

6. Find a Workout You Love
The easiest way to get more exercise into your day is to find a physical activity you love to do. Join a sports team, go for a hike with a friend, or spend an afternoon kayaking around the lake. You’ll burn calories, and you’ll have fun! Have you given our Skinny Ms. Workouts a try?

7. Watch Portion Sizes
Foods today are often served as a portion large enough for a family of four. Try serving foods on smaller plates to trick your brain into thinking it is eating more. When you’re eating out, share an entrée with a friend, or try some of these Helpful Tips for Eating Out. Learn more about portion sizes here.

8. Avoid High Calorie FoodsYou know the drill. In order to lose fat, you need to burn more calories than you take in. Staying away from high-calorie foods is pretty obvious. Low-calorie doesn’t have to mean bland. Our Skinny Ms. Recipes are nutritious AND delicious.

9. Find a Way to Stay Motivated
Everyone struggles with motivation from time to time. Be prepared to come up with new ways to stay motivated. Join a support group, pin a photo of your wedding dress to the fridge, or download one of these Motivational Playlists.

10. Snack Regularly
The best way to keep your body energized and burning calories all day long is to keep it fueled with healthy nutrients throughout the day. Try one of these Healthy Snacks with Fewer than 75 Calories.

11. Ditch Diet Foods
Diet foods might sound good, but they’re often anything but. Foods that are marketed as being “diet” are often loaded with sugars, artificial sweeteners, and other ingredients that are harmful to your waistline. Having trouble battling your diet soda addiction? Try one of these Healthy Alternatives to Diet Soda and be sure to take our No Soda Challenge.

12. Avoid Alcohol
Most alcohol is loaded with calories, but lacking in a whole lot of nutritional value. It’s best to skip this body bulging indulgence, especially when you’re trying to slim down.

13. Detoxify Your Body
Like it, or not, many of the foods we eat today are full of ingredients that are pretty toxic to the body. It’s a good idea to cleanse the body from harmful bacteria and other unwanted ingredients so that it can continue to function to its fullest. Try one of these Fabulous Detox and Cleanse Drinks.

14. Fill Up on Fiber
When you’re backed up, your belly appears full and bloated. Keep everything flowing the way it should be including a healthy dose of fiber in your diet. Our Lentil and Veggie Stew is full of fiber and tasty, too!

15. Keep Stress in Check
We know. Planning a wedding is rough work, but do your best to keep your stress level in check during this happy time. Not only can stress wreak havoc on your body, but when we’re stressed we tend to reach for less-than-nutritional snack foods and treats. Learn more about the effects of stress on the body here.

16. Reward Yourself
You’re bound to fall off the wagon from time to time, but when you do get right back on, and reward yourself when you reach a goal. Allowing yourself a treat each time your reach a goal can help you stay on track. Imagine a day at the spa, a night out with the girls, or a new outfit… now, that’s some pretty powerful motivation.

http://skinnyms.com/16-tips-to-weight-loss-bliss 

3 Biggest Weight Loss Mistakes

The countdown to bikini season has begun. But even if you’re busting your butt at the gym and following a nutrition plan down to the peas and carrots, you’ve got to get your head in the game in order to reach your fitness goals, says Rachel Cosgrove, trainer and author of Drop Two Sizes. “If you’re not in a success mindset, a positive mindset, then it’s going to be really hard to overcome that,” she says. So no more easy outs! Be your biggest champion by ditching these damaging habits:

Mistake No. 1: You use the word but
One of the biggest challenges many women face: ending negative thoughts and excuses. Any time you use the word but, you completely discount whatever comes before it. For example: “I am going to cook at home this week, but I don’t know if that will work because I have a really busy week.” Try substituting it for the word and. “I am going to cook at home this week, and I have a really busy week.” Now those two things can coexist. Other words that should be on your no-say list? Try, kinda, and sorta. “They’re a good indicator that your mind isn’t where it needs to be,” says Cosgrove. Stop using these words, and you’ll stop giving yourself an excuse and undermining your progress. Turn “I’ll try to get to the gym three times this week” into “I will get to the gym three times this week,” for example. Once you start to change your patterns, it’ll become easier to stay on track.

Mistake No. 2: You go it alone
“At our gym, everything is in a small group setting,” says Cosgrove. “We found that when we switched from doing private one-on-one training to a small group setting, our results went up.” That’s not totally shocking since social support is so key. A 1999 study done in Pennsylvania looked at the benefits of increased social support for weight loss and maintenance and determined that those who recruited friends had better results at the end of the four-month study. They were also more likely to maintain their weight loss for the long-term. “You need to have people you can brag to, or share that you did something good for yourself and they’re happy for you,” says Cosgrove. “Get those people involved in the changes you’re making—that can really help guarantee success.”

Mistake No. 3: You don’t keep tabs on your habits
Get a journal to log your daily nutrition, your thoughts, and your workouts. “As long as my clients are writing down what they’re eating and their workouts, they’re usually pretty on-task and getting great results,” says Cosgrove. “But as soon they stop keeping track and start to, basically, mentally check out, they get further and further from the plan and further and further from getting results.” Tracking your progress will keep you motivated and accountable.

Adapted from Drop Two Sizes, by Rachel Cosgrove (Rodale, 2013). Find the workouts on DVD exclusively at droptwosizesdvd.com.

http://blog.womenshealthmag.com/whexperts/weight-loss-mistakes/

Is Your Job to Blame for Your Weight Gain?

Putting  in extra hours at the office could be putting extrapounds on your figure, according to new research.

In a two-year Australian study, women in the workforce were more likely to gain weight than those who weren’t employed. And the more hours they worked, the more weight the ladies put on.

Okay, as much as I would like to say we should all retire immediately, we all know that isn't a choice. There are a lot of easy ways, however, to avoid becoming another statistic and needing to buy a new work wardrobe.

1. Start your day with breakfast. No matter what, this is not a meal to be skipped. Whether you have it at home or first thing when you get into the office, a healthy breakfast helps set the tone for the day.

2. Be a leader. Just because everyone else in the office likes to order from the local pizzeria or run to the closest fast food establishment, it doesn’t mean you have to join suit. However, if you don’t want to be left behind, just be smart in placing your order or, better yet, suggest trying a new,healthier place. Who knows, your health-conscious persona might rub off on the others.

3. Squeeze in exercise. Instead of sending your colleague down the hall an email, get up and walk over to her desk. Bypass the elevator and take the stairs to your afternoon meeting and back to your cube. If you drive to work, park your car farther away from the building’s entrance. Or start a lunch walking group; you might be pleasantly surprised how many others in the office are tired of sitting all day.

RELATED: Fit in a workout without leaving your desk by performing these six seated moves that work your whole body.

4. Use sticky notes as reminders. Take advantage of being at your computer all day and put reminders notes where you can clearly see them, like on your phone or monitor. Jot down to drink water plenty of water, avoid the candy jar on your co-worker's desk, and pick up some fruits and vegetables on your way home.

5. Come prepared. Just like you would never go into battle without ammunition, you should never go to the office without food, especially snacks for later in the day. Instead of finding yourself at the vending machine at 3 p.m., you should be able to reach into your bag and grab something a whole lot better.

Working long hours in never fun, but a job shouldn’t ruin your health. Remember that you are in the driver’s seat—steer straight.

http://www.shape.com/blogs/weight-loss-coach/your-job-blame-your-weight-gain

Foods That Lead to a Faster Metabolism

When reaching your weight loss goals, you realize it is important to burn more calories than you take in. Certain foods can give you a faster metabolism to help you burn excess calories more effectively, especially when used in connection with a low carb diet or a low fat diet.

low carb diet

Source by : wikimedia

Water

Staying properly hydrated is key to a faster metabolism. When you are dehydrated, it slows down body functions, including metabolism. Although any unsweetened beverage will work, water is always the best choice because it cleans the body and helps carry away toxins as well. Also, drinking a glass of cold water is believed to raise metabolism slightly as your body works to warm the cold water to the body’s temperature.

Water droplet blue

Source by : wikimedia

Lean Meats

Foods that are high in protein and low in fat, such as lean meats, make your metabolism faster because proteins take a lot of effort to break down and be used by the body. Proteins also build muscle, and more muscle mass has been linked to higher metabolism. Used in conjunction with a low carb diet, lean meats help burn more calories with increased metabolism.

chicken Meat

Source by : wikipedia

Hot Peppers

Hot peppers, such as chili peppers, contain a chemical called capsaicin. Capsaicin has many benefits for the body, such as helping to reduce pain and inflammation, and can also raise metabolism slightly for a brief time. By eating hot peppers more frequently, this metabolism raising effect can last a little longer.

Chili pepper

Source by : wikimedia

Salmon

Salmon and other cold water, fatty fish have high levels of protein. These fish also contain omega-3 essential fatty acids which are important for many body functions. They help by making you feel full for longer, which will help you eat less. Omega-3s can also help lower certain hormones that make you think you are hungry, which also adds to the feeling of fullness.

Salmon sashimi

Source by : wikimedia

Tea

Teas, especially green tea and oolong tea, contain caffeine and special chemicals called catechins. These chemicals can actually raise metabolism with benefits that can last as long as a couple hours. Many teas also offer other health benefits as well.

Tea

Source by : wikimedia

When you are watching what you eat for a weight loss program. try adding some of these foods that help raise metabolism. Not only will you be getting good nutrition, but you could enhance your weight loss efforts in the process.

http://www.dahealthguide.com/foods-that-lead-to-a-faster-metabolism.html