How to Lose Weight in Stomach Area - Myths and Facts

It is certainly no secret that thousands of people struggle trying to lose stomach fat. Many of these people have fit areas on their bodies, however they still have that small or perhaps a not-so-small pooch that just won’t seem to go away. The good news is that losing fat anywhere on our body requires the same tried and tested formula - decrease food intake and increase physical activity. People who have excess fat in the stomach area often feel embarrassed by the condition, and have low self esteem. Stomach fat can often be quite difficult to lose because it is the primary storage area for adipose (fat) tissue and is one of the last places that the body will give up its fat stores.

There are many fat loss myths out there - some quite humorous and others just plain ridiculous. Below are two common myths that prevent people from reaching their weight-loss goals.

Myth #1: Abdominal and oblique exercises burn fat from the stomach and love handles. Since so many people believe this myth, most all of the abdominal gadget’s infomercials claim to help you burn fat. While some fitness equipment and abdominal exercises will help firm and tone our abdominal areas, they will not get rid of the underlying fat. Performing aerobic exercises such as running or swimming, five times per week, thirty minutes per session will produce tremendous benefits if one is following a healthy, low-calorie diet.

Myth #2: Skipping meals will result in fat loss.
Skipping meals usually means a reduction in caloric intake and may result in weight loss, however skipping meals will not result in fat loss. Why? Because skipping meals hinders the body’s fat-burning mechanism - the metabolism. You see our metabolisms work best when we are eating small, balanced meals often. This is why bodybuilders usually eat five to six small meals per day.

Anyone that is serious about losing stomach fat must know what works and what doesn’t. Below are a couple of tried and true weight loss facts.

Fact #1: Exercising in the morning on an empty stomach is the best time to exercise in order to burn fat. For example, if you jog before breakfast, your body will be burning stored fat (the carbohydrates) you left there during the night. A study conducted in Sweden a few years ago concluded that exercise in the morning before eating burns nearly three and a half times more fat than exercising in the evening! Obviously, exercising at any time during the day is better than not exercising at all.

Fact #2: Fat-loss programs should include aerobic and weight training activity. People who combine both weight training and aerobic exercise achieve faster results. The reason is quite simple. Aerobic activity increases the heart rate resulting in an expenditure of calories and weight training increases our metabolic rate, enabling our bodies can burn calories all the time.

If losing stomach fat is your primary goal, develop an obtainable plan on how you would like to get started on your fat loss program. Be sure that your plan includes a healthy eating plan, weight training and aerobic activity. You're not going to get rid of stomach fat in just a few days, so keep yourself motivated and you’ll find that it will get easier over time. Thousands of people have realized their fitness goals and you can too!.

5 Mistakes While Trying To Lose Weight?

If you are on a fitness or dieting program, you know how hard it is NOT to drop out of it. In fact, most people drop out of it after a few sessions. Why is this so? There are a ton of excuses if you ask them. While we are all human and given to laziness and temptations, there are certain things we can watch out for which will help us stay the course.

Here are 5 common mistakes people commit when trying to lose weight. Make sure you don't make the same mistakes...

1). Failure to plan ahead.

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Having no target or vague target in mind when going to the gym can only lead to failure. How can you know if you have reached your objectives if you only have a vague target? You can ask a doctor about your ideal weight and make that your goal or target. Or think of a specific, reasonable goal yourself.

2). Succumbing to distractions

There is always the TV & other "interesting" things to distract you so it is crucial to allocate the time for gym. When something crops up at the last moment you can reschedule your gym session into another time slot if you have a good planning schedule.

3). Working out too little

Some people lift two dumb-bells a couple of times a day and think they are done. You need way more that that. Do spend some time coming up with a sound training program. Get help from a gym trainer or a veteran bodybuilder to set up your program.

4). Working out too much

Your body needs enough time to burn off the fats and grow muscles in between your workouts. Training on rest days will simply make you more tired without any additional benefits.

5). Comparing yourself with others

There is always someone who is smarter or richer or slimmer that you. Everyone has his/her own unique genetic make-up which affects how we gain weight gain, lose weight, and respond to training etc. Comparing yourself to others is totally futile.

So that you have it. The 9 common mistakes people make when trying to lose weight and stay slim. Do keep this handy guide around you as a reminder.