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(c) Anna Overweight NO MORE

How do I get flat abs? What a common question with a
simple answer. No matter how many crunches you do, unless you
lose the layer of fat covering your abs, you will not show those
sculpted abs. Period. The basic concept to lose that
unwanted abdominal fat is by combining cardio and abs exercise,
and eating healthy. Talking from my own experience, I
will share some simple steps to get flat abs with you, as I am
on my way to revealing my own flat abs by saying solemnly
bye-bye to belly fat and welcome to those flat abs.

How many times have you heard that by doing 100s crunches a day
you will get those sculpted abs? Well, this is not so. If you
have a high body fat percentage, the abs just won’t show no
matter how much you work or how many repetitions you do,
simple as that. It is logic, if we are carrying extra fat, toned
muscles cannot show because they are being covered, precisely,
by that unwanted extra fat. The only way to get rid of fat is
not by targeting exercises, but by burning excessive fat by
doing cardio exercises and adjusting our meals. In other
words, showing abs does not happen only in the floor exercise,
but also in the kitchen.

Abs exercises, just like any other muscle exercises, should
be done at least every other day, not daily. Muscles need
time to recover. In my case, I am doing abs exercises every 2
days, so I give my abs muscles 48 hours to recover. I make sure
to consume enough protein too to help for muscle recovery and
burn more fat. In a nutshell, eating better and exercising will
maximize your efforts to lose weight and flatten your abs fast.

EATING HABITS – Helpful food/herbs for flat abs

Before starting with our abs exercise plan, it is important to
adjust our eating habits too. Your diet, or as I prefer to call
it “eating regime,” should consist of higher protein intake,
moderate fat and moderate complex carbohydrate. Consuming high
complex carbohydrate and not using all that energy will lead to
stored fat; that is why a higher protein diet is advisable, not
that you have to eliminate carbs. Carbs are necessary to have
energy and properly body functioning. However, do not go to
extremes, just be moderate, not like crazy pre-set diets.
Eliminate all excess simple sugars and excess saturated fats.

You can use extra virgin olive oil as it is monounsaturated fat.
Reality is that permanent weight loss requires a permanent
change in eating habits; drastic diets are not the way to keep
the weight off.

Drinking water is your other big step to get flat abs.
Water flushes both waste and toxins from your body and maintains
a sense of satiety while also flushing fat from your system
before it can be stored. Water not only dilutes the digestive
fluids, but also accelerates the passage of food. Drink at least
8 glasses of water. How about burning extra calories with water?
How? Drink cold water, and you can burn extra calories as your
body warms it up.

About eating habits, many times, we tend to retain water or gas,
which seems that we are accumulating “fat” when in reality it is
“gas” for eating too fast or having foods hard to digest. It
is crucial to eat slowly, enjoy each bite, and do not swallow
without appreciating all flavors. The best suggestion to aid
digestion is to have daily yogurt (good at fighting the bad
bacteria and improving digestion), or add some type of “anise”
(either raw or as a tea infusion), the other option is by adding
digestive enzyme aids.

A great mistake is skipping breakfast. As many
nutritionists highlight, this is the main meal because is like
fuel to the body. After sleeping, we need to recover water and
add protein to our bodies as well as fiber. Ideally, oatmeal is
great for breakfast with enough carbs, fiber, and low in sugars.
Besides, it helps reduce cholesterol.

For dinner, you can have some chicken with salad because you
need to have some type of protein to help you burn fat, build
muscle and do not only limit only to salads, which is mostly
“low glycemic carbs” … or better said, water. Also, remember
of not adding heavy extra calorie dressing. You can use balsamic
vinegar or lemon. If not having chicken, you can have a protein
shake, yogurt, tofu, eggs, or any high protein meal.

These are suggested food/herbs to improve abs and to fight
bloated feeling.

Ginger Anise Celery Fennel Onion Garlic Green tea YOGURT (non
fat or low fat) Leek Raw sesame seeds Watermelon Strawberries

You can include them in your daily regime by either eating them
raw, cooked, or drinking tea, accordingly. I cannot emphasize
enough the importance of drinking Green tea. This is my main
magical drink because it speeds up my metabolism and sets it to
a fat burning mode. I prepare a cold pitcher of green tea for
the day. Sometimes, I drink it hot too. Generally, for the cold
pitcher, I combine it with ginger and anise, and that is my main
arm to combat fat and bloated feeling.

I suggest you eat every 3 hours to keep your body in “fat
burning mode.” Naturally, I am talking about small portions, not
super size portions. For instance, I eat every 3 hours, keeping
2 main meals and the other 4 snacks, including protein in all 6,
especially for breakfast and dinner.

Do not go into drastic diets because if you drop your calories
too drastically, your body may opt to use muscle tissue for
energy instead of fat. Moderation is the key. Many people who go
on fad diets look so soft because they lose almost as much
muscle mass as fat. Many studies have shown that the majority
of people, who use drastic diets, will gain the weight back, if
not even more than they lost. To make it personal, I was one
of those statistics. I fell many times into the yo-yo cycle
until I said no more! I rather lose weight and keep the weigh
off, than just a quick fake weight loss. How about you?

Nutritional supplements are good to aid your program, but as the
word says, they are just supplements. Your supplements
cannot do the work for you if you are not eating and exercising
properly. For instance, when I am running out of time, and
cannot have my protein meal, I drink a protein shake.

EXERCISE TIPS FOR BELLY FLATTENING – DEFINING YOUR ABS

You can expect to feel or see results in as little as 2 weeks
by combining cardio and abs exercises and your eating
regime. A combination of carbs and protein are needed for a
pre-workout meal. Exercise tips for a faster belly-flattening
plan include different sets of exercises, at least 3 times per
week 30-45 minutes cardio, and 2-3 times per week abs exercises.
(I use weight lifting training too.) here is no such thing as
magical fat spot reducing. It is a matter of lowering total
fat levels; as you lose fat, it will come off automatically all
over your body-not just in specific spot areas.

Do 2-3 sets for each exercise. Each set consists of 15 to 20
repetitions of each exercise. For every exercise, move slowly to
make the muscle work: 2 or 3 seconds up, hold 1 second, and 2 or
3 seconds down. The point here is to fatigue the muscle, not on
how fast you can do an exercise. You can rest about 90 seconds
between sets.

Note: If you cannot do 2 sets, it is ok. Start with one;
the important thing is to start, take action to see results. Do
not get discouraged; just try your best.

Crunches

1. Lie flat on your back with your feet flat on the ground (or
resting on a bench with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle,
three to four inches apart)

2. Place your hands lightly on either side of your head keeping
your elbows in. Tip: Don’t lock your fingers behind your head.

3. The key is to push the small part of your back down in the
floor to isolate your abs muscles.

4. Roll your shoulders off the floor; continue to push down –as
hard as you can– with your lower back to fatigue the muscle.

5. Shoulders should come up off the floor –only– about four
inches, while your lower back remains on the floor.

6. Concentrate on crunching together rather than moving your
body upwards to maximize muscle tension. Contract your muscles
as tight as you can to cause them to fatigue, the movement
should be like playing the accordion. This is more important
than doing quick repetitions.

Note: Another option is exercise ball crunch

Reverse crunches

1. Lie face up on the floor, place hands on the floor or just
behind the head. 2. Bring the knees in towards the chest bent to
about 90 degrees, with feet together or crossed. 3. Contract the
abs to curl the hips off the floor, reaching the legs up towards
the ceiling. 4. Use slow movements, emphasis is to use your abs
to lift your hips not swinging the legs.

Bicycle

1. Lie face up on the floor, lace your fingers behind your head.
2. Bring the knees in towards the chest and lift the shoulder
blades off the ground without pulling on the neck. 3. Pedaling
movement: Straight the left leg out while simultaneously turning
the upper body to the right, bringing the left elbow towards the
right knee. 4. Now, switch sides, bringing the right elbow
towards the left knee to complete the pedaling movement. 5. Do
slow pedaling to feel muscle contraction … remember, is not
about speed but about fatiguing the abs muscle.

Captain’s chair / Roman Chair (mostly found in gyms)

1. Stand on chair, grip handholds to stabilize your upper body,
keep it firm. 2. Make sure you are pressing your back against
the pad, now contract the abs to raise the legs and lift knees
towards your chest. 3. Remember to be firm and don’t arch the
back, repeat slowly…remember, emphasis is on the abs muscles.

Vertical Leg Crunch

1. Lie face up on the floor, extend the legs straight up with
knees crossed. (or straight) 2. Contract the abs to lift the
shoulder blades off the floor, as though reaching your chest
towards your feet. 3. Keep the legs in a fixed position and
lower to original position, but keep the legs extended.

Long Arm Crunch (my favorite)

1. Lie face up on the floor, extend the arms straight out behind
the head with hands clasped, keeping the arms next to the ears.
2. Contract the abs and lift the shoulder blades off the floor,
the pressure should be from the abs, not the neck. 3. Hold, feel
the contraction, and lower to original position.

Super Abs Stretch

1. Lie face up on the floor, extend the arms straight out behind
the head. 2. Bring down the arms, slowly, feel the abs muscle
stretching. Movement is arms straight behind the head to next to
the legs.

3. Up and down feeling the stretch, hold it and start all over.

Summarizing, targeting exercises will not work unless you are
targeting your entire body by doing cardio exercises and
eliminating fat. Targeting upper, lower, inner, and outer
abs muscles will not burn fat; they define the muscles. Burning
fat is done by cardio exercises and by consuming healthy foods.
Remember, I told you already, flat abs are not only done in the
exercise floor, but in the kitchen. Recipe: Cardio, abs
exercise, and eating healthy. Just to add a funny note and bring
a smile, as my nephew Nadeem says, “What do you call a dog
with a fever that goes out to the snow? CHILLI DOG!! “Ha ha
ha.

Oh well, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, adios, arrivederci! It is
time to do my abs exercises. How about you, are you ready to
say bye-bye to belly fat and welcome to flat abs? I hope so.

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=========== ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anna “Overweight? NO MORE!” lost over 80 pounds from 230 pounds
and has kept the weight off for 3 years. If I did it, so can
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