Sunday, August 16, 2009

Abs and Weight Loss

A wall of interlocking muscles that stretch from your sternum to your pelvis, abs are the major muscle group responsible for keeping your top half attached to your bottom half. There are five separate muscle groups in your abs: the external obliques, internal obliques, transversus abdominis, rectus abdominis and the pyramidalis. They work in tandem, flexing and stretching whenever you twist or bend, keeping your body aligned and providing support for your back. They’re crucial in virtually everything you do, from football to ballroom dancing.But getting rock-hard, rippling abs is no easy feat. Most of us store at least a little fat around the middle and it’s tough to get it to melt away without some serious work. Learn how to turn your beer belly into a six pack with expert advice about ab workouts, low-cal diets and even those newfangled miracle ab machines. Whittle away the fat with diet and exercise, then hone your midsection with a series of rigorous routines. In the end you might just end up being the envy of every guy in the gym.

Lucky few are born with washboard abs, a genetic disposition to shed fat and gain muscle. The rest of us have to work for them. A lot. Any tip or trick to help us slough off extra pounds and sculpt the abs is more than welcome.

Abs Fact
The abs are stabilizer muscles, made to support your body during twisting motions. Even if you do a million crunches, you won’t build true abdominal strength without exercises that force you to stabilize your midsection, like rollouts, the plank, and one-arm pushup holds.
One of the most frequently stated goals of men in the gym is to "get ripped abs." The ab muscles are what really identify someone who is serious about their fitness and diet plan, because without determination and a fair amount of effort, getting ripped abs is a goal that will never be reached.While everyone has developed ab muscles to some extent, it’s getting them to show that becomes the biggest issue for most. This is due to the fact that most of us tend to store our body fat, at least partially, in the abdominal region. This is also one of the most stubborn places to lose fat from.That said, if you know the principles for how to get ripped abs, you can make this goal a reality.

Genetic factor
The first thing you must realize is that every guy has his own uniquely shaped abs. Randomly selecting a picture out of some men’s magazine or billboard and saying that’s what you want your abs to be like could be slightly self-defeating, because even if you did get to low enough body fat levels, your abs may not be genetically shaped in a similar way; therefore, the appearance of your abs will still be different.Recognizing that this factor is out of your control and not getting hung up on it is one step forward on your quest to get ripped abs. If you are unable to do this, you’ll only become more frustrated as time progresses, which is a serious motivational killer.Rest assured, though, that if you can get your body fat levels low enough and perform correct, targeted exercises for this muscle group, your midsection will garner second glances.

Food factor
Next comes the diet aspect of the equation. Ever heard the saying, "Abs are made in the kitchen"? Nothing could speak the truth more. As stated, everyone has some ab muscles, but most have a layer of body fat hiding them. Removing this layer is going to be about 90% dietary effort and 10% exercise effort when it comes right down to it. If you aren’t ready to take control over the foods you are putting in your mouth, getting ripped abs should not be a goal for you.While the old notion used to be that you should eat a diet as low in fat as possible in order to remove body fat, this has changed in modern times. Now, diets that are higher in protein, moderate in fat and low or moderate in carbs are making headway, as this helps to control insulin levels better, and insulin happens to be the prime hormone that stores body fat (in a hypercaloric balance).That’s not to say you can’t get lean on a higher-carbohydrate diet; you most certainly can -- and some guys do -- but for the vast majority, hunger levels are much more manageable on a low to moderate carb approach, which correspondingly makes eating fewer calories easier.At the end of the day, it’s really going to come down to your total calorie intake, with less importance placed on how you get there -- assuming sufficient protein is present, of course.

http://www.askmen.com/sports/keywords/abs.html

It has become ridiculous: Every time I crash in front of my TV late at night after a long, hard day's work, I'm bombarded by countless infomercials revealing the newest line of fat-burning, abdominal crunching, body-sculpting, miracle-working machines. Even those Suzanne Somers or Richard Simmons diet plans make me want to shoot myself in the foot for snacking on popcorn.Well, I have news for all of you out there: Don't diet, and don't rush off to buy the next gimmick. Here's the real secret to losing weight: Just eat less.

it's about sensibility
That's right; sensibility is the new word of the decade. After all, doing everything sensibly in your life is the key to living well. You don't need to feel trapped behind the prison of your own body anymore. All you need to do is control your portion sizes by eating less and eating sensibly.Easier said than done? Well, like all things in life, eating less is a learned experience and takes some practice and patience. Our problem nowadays is that we're too lazy to turn this practice into a perfectly balanced meal plan.

breaking bad habits
"The problem for most people is that they maintain certain habits that make eating less quite difficult," says Pat Booth, assistant director of the Nutrition Services Department at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center.Old habits are hard to break, however, tomorrow you'll be looking back at the "old" you and feeling good about the "new" you that's yet to come. Get my point? It also has a lot to do with your self-image perceptions. You must first change mentally in order to then change physically.

getting startedAnyone
who has ever tried dieting knows the immediate feeling of deprivation that accompanies most weight-loss plans. The result for most of us is that we can't stick to it.Instead of drastically cutting your diet, try gradually accustoming yourself to eating less. Take smaller portions. Leave a little on the plate. In time, you'll find you need less food to feel satiated.As you practice putting less on your plate, consider these 7 steps to eating less (the following list is taken from Mr. Paul Wolf, Health Correspondent, and I highly recommend it):

1. Mini-meal is the operative wordIdeally, every time you eat, your plate should have some protein, a little fat and a little fibrous bulk to ensure that you feel full and satisfied. This takes some planning. It ultimately means losing the "mindlessly munching on pretzels" habit."Even if you eat fruit as a snack, healthy as it is, you won't feel completely satisfied because it doesn't have any protein and fat," Booth says.An apple followed by, say, some plain yogurt, will do more for satiety than two apples. A baked potato, which has 100 calories, contributes more to satisfaction than 20 potato chips, which, at 114 calories, adds up quickly. Top that spud with a quarter-cup of low-fat cottage cheese (100 calories), and you have a filling, healthy snack for 200 calories.

2. Don't deprive yourselfYou don't want to feel deprived or hungry because drastically cutting calories will only slow down your metabolism by driving your system into famine mode.Don't count calories; just eyeball your portions. Let's say you hope to reduce your daily caloric intake from about 2,500 to 2,000. Focus on reducing your portion sizes by about 20 percent.Within a matter of a couple of weeks, you will be adjusted to the new serving sizes and they will seem normal.
http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt/31_eating_well.html

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