Finding Energy To Exercise Part 3 of 3 - Developing Super Powers

So in the last 2 installments of this brief series on how to boost your energy dramatically, I mentioned, (a) how your mindset can be a major influence on your energy levels and (b) what kinds of foods you should focus on getting and what kind of foods you must remove from your diet.
Today, in the last little bit about boosting energy to help you lose stomach fat, I wanted to make a special mention to developing super powers and how it can drastically improve your energy levels and your results with your general fitness regime....
Well, I must be honest, I'm NOT talking about super powers in a traditional sense. You won't be able to fly and you probably won't be able to lift buildings et cetera. What I mean by super powers is your ability to define yourself.
Now a lot of people have extremely busy lives but this often stops them from getting the results they want in terms of their health and fitness. When you refuse to give in to your "busy-ness" and make it absolutely essential to fit some daily exercise into your routine, you are pretty well (by my standards) developing some super-powers. You see this step is simply a choice to get up and do something (exercise) even when you don't feel like it. You will notice a huge boost in energy, motivation and your health and fitness will thank you for it. Not to mention a drop in belly fat as a bonus.
So that's it for now, next edition I'm going to give you some really juicy facts and weird breakfast ideas to help you lose stomach fat.

Image courtesy of http://www.samruby.com/History/CosmicSpiderman.gif

Finding Energy To Exercise Part 2 of 3 - The Fuel To Boost Your Results

Last time I wrote about how the importance of a mental commitment to achieving results is often overlooked and what a drastic impact even a very small mental commitment (like 1 minute of exercise per day) can have on losing stomach fat and getting flat, sexy, 6 pack abs.
This time, I'll touch briefly on food. In particular:

• Avoiding processed food
• Eating more cruciferous vegetables
• Mixing up your food and trying different things

So, we all know that more highly processed foods are not good for us, right?

The fact is, the more you process a natural food source, such as rice, milk, corn or even wheat, the less nutrient value the end product will have. So the (major) problem with this is then: You are eating food which is not really food! The whole idea behind eating food is about fueling your body for its peak performance (while also enjoying the flavors, temperatures and textures that come with it. The other problem with processed food is that it will often also contain harmful xenoestrogens which act just like an excess of the estrogen hormone in your body. This causes a mega-host of problems for you and of particular concern in this blog - stomach fat!

Cruciferous vegetables can help to a) reduce the effects of xenoestrogens and b) load up your body full of vital minerals and vitamins which promote good health and help you lose stomach fat faster. These are things like broccoli, cauliflower, leek, rocket, cabbage and other members of the cruciferous family.

Finally, don't be afraid to mix up your food and try a range of different things in your diet. Variety is the spice of life as they say and I always say a little bit of everything in moderation never hurts (unless its a deep fried doughnut).  Try different herbs and spices and lots of different fresh foods for a boost in energy.

All of these tips will help get your fuel performing beautifully. And what this means for you is more energy and less fat.

Finding Energy To Exercise Part 1 of 3 - The Mental Commitment For Results

One extremely common piece of reasoning I hear put forward about why we have belly fat is peoples lack of energy. So many things we are surrounded by in everyday life drain us of our energy and don't tend to give much back (with the exception of addictive drugs such as caffeine).

So where then, do we find enough energy after a day or a week of busy work, family, study and life? Well, I say that the major key is finding balance. And the most important aspect of succeeding in finding energy is to not let a lack of energy stop you!

Many people find that after committing to just 1 minute of exercise (which doesn't require much energy at all), they feel more energized and will usually continue for a minimum of 15 minutes.

It can be challenging at times to get over that first hurdle but it certainly doesn't require any physical energy to overcome the first hurdle (ie. making the decision to exercise).

So it might work something like this:

• You feel low on energy, but know you need to exercise
• You sit around for days lacking energy and therefore motivation for exercise is low
• You feel sorry for yourself and don't get any 

When it could (just as easily) work like this:

• You feel low on energy, but know you need to exercise
• You have made a mental commitment to exercise for at least 1 minute per day
• You end up doing at least 15 minutes of exercise per day
• You feel great, get fitter, start losing belly fat and have more energy 

Image courtesy of http://www.herbalvitality.info/isotonic-sport-drinks.jpg

3 Unique Ways To Help You Drink More Water

We all know how important drinking more water is if we aim to win the battle against belly fat. Water not only keeps your body hydrated and functioning well, it also flushes out excess toxin build up within cells and rejuvenates the body so that it works better over all.
So long ago I discovered that basically everyone knows that drinking more water should be a priority but very few people practice the habit of drinking more water.
Here are 3 unique ways to help you drink more water:

1. Buy an expensive water jug - Water is precious right? We know that it's going to have awesome effects on our body. So spend a decent amount of money on a high quality water jug (or bottle) you can put on your desk at work or keep around the house at all times. This is going to encourage you to make the water jug a priority and you will drink more.
2. Add fruit to your water - Particularly for those who don't like the taste of water. We've all heard of adding a little slice of lemon or lime to our water right? Well I'm going to take that one step further and say that you should try out other fruits as well. Throw in some strawberries, apple, watermelon or whatever takes your fancy and see if it makes a difference to the taste of the water.
3. Make a rule - This one is to help get you into the habit of drinking water again. Find something you have a habit of doing regularly, and make a rule to drink one full glass of water every time you do it. Better yet, every time you go to the toilet, let that be a reminder to then drink a full glass of water.

The main thing here is to use every effort you can to make drinking lots of water a habit. You can virtually never get enough water so make it a habit and stick to it. It definitely helps if you're trying to lose belly fat.

Image courtesy http://www.caslab.com/Drinking-Water-Testing/Drinking-Water.jpg

Can Saunas Help You Lose Belly Fat?

Let me say first off that I don't see any method (including use of saunas) as the be-all-and-end-all to belly fat loss. Having a sauna is first and foremost a great way to relax. It just happens to also have some other great side effects such as:

• An increased heart rate - This effectively "tricks" your body into thinking you're exercising and helps you burn a few calories while your just sitting there doing nothing.
• An increased circulation - Blood is sent to your extremities and helps to spread nutrients more fully around the body.
• A "flushing effect" of toxins through the skin - Sweating helps to eliminate toxins from your system (30% of which are normally passed through the skin.
• An artificial fever state is induced in your body - This effectively acts in favor of your body's overall health through the elimination of toxins.

Overall I will say that having a good sauna can definitely assist with any effort to lose stomach fat. I'll also say, however, that it is NOT a means to lose belly fat. That is, you shouldn't expect that having a sauna every day is going to let you drop the fat from your stomach. It should, however, work in conjunction with your other efforts to produce awesome results for your body.

P.S. Make sure you always replace lost fluids after a sauna by drinking heaps of water. Losing fluids in this way is not a good idea for healthy weight loss.

Image courtesy http://www.saunaabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/whati-is-sauna.jpg

How Does Coffee Affect Your Metabolism?

Well, as you probably well know, coffee is one of the big controversies amongst fitness professionals and this is due to it's "dual sided" nature.
You see, coffee, as we all know, is a stimulant and because of this, it is accurate to say that it will give your metabolism a boost. The problem with this is that people end up drinking loads of coffee, usually adding either sugar or artificial sweeteners.
Too much sugar is unanimously agreed to cause excessive "empty caloric consumption" leading to insulin spikes and ultimately, fat storing around your belly!
The lesser known, and more controversial topic, is that of artificial sweeteners. I'm talking about synthetically derived sweeteners containing aspartame. Now although popular belief will tell you that these sweeteners are better than sugar because they don't have the calories, in actual fact aspartame-based sweeteners will do far more damage to your body in the long term and will not even help you lose stomach fat at all. Instead they will alter your hormone levels and cause more fat storage and a slower metabolism.
So, the point is:

• Coffee is a stimulant and (on it's own) will increase your metabolism and help you burn more fat.
• Adding sugar to your coffee adds loads of "empty calories" to your diet causing fat storage.
• Adding artificial sweeteners to your coffee is a poor choice due to the negative affects it has on your hormones.

This leads us to the milk debacle... Milk in itself is not bad. In its raw form it contains loads of important fats, vitamins, proteins, enzymes and minerals. The more it's processed, however, the more good stuff is taken out, leading to a more sterile form of food which will not do much good for your body at all.

So how do we use the positive affect of coffee to our advantage to help lose stubborn fat?

Drink coffee if you want but avoid the common sweeteners. Try stevia as a sweetener alternative (a natural sweetener with zero calories). Use the most wholesome milk you can if you need to use milk.

3 Ways To Fit Exercise Into A Busy Schedule

I know far too many people who don't do enough for their health and fitness because of work commitments. It's absolutely devastating for me to see people prioritizing their work before themselves. Unfortunately though, that is often just the way that life is. With tighter and tighter time constraints due to work, family and other commitments, it becomes more and more difficult to motivate yourself into exercising.
So how do you get past this hurdle?

1. Get your mindset right - A very important part of everything is of course, your mind set and where exercise sits on your list of priorities. Write a list of the 10 most important activities in your life and rank them in importance. This is likely to make you instantly more aware of how importance exercise actually is and that you need to work other things around your exercise routine.
2. Choose higher intensity exercises - Doing exercise at a higher intensity will massively boost your results (especially if you're currently doing nothing!). HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is perfect for busy people, giving you a great workout in just a matter of minutes, while providing the same or better results, so you don't need hours to get a flat stomach.
3. Get more incidental exercise - Challenge yourself in your everyday motions. Don't take the easy way when you're walking around but try a more physically challenging route and if it's a longer route then challenge yourself to do it in the same time as the easy route.

So that's it. But never underestimate the effect that a good nutritional base can have on your ability to get a flat stomach either.

Which Parasites Cause Belly Fat?

There are dozens of different types of parasites to watch out for and when it comes to losing belly fat, it definitely pays to stay away from all of them.
Parasites are not only disgusting, but the leech nutrition from their host (you!) and leave you with a toxic mess and a body plagued with fatigue and poor nutrition.
It remains a fact, however, that parasites are one of the biggest causes of stubborn stomach fat that remain untreated. So anyway, if you want to find out all about the different types of parasites that can infect humans to see if they might be effecting you, check this article out.

That's all I've got time for today. I've been so busy lately. Actually I'm planning to write about a couple of things in the coming days including how to combat a busy lifestyle and succeed with 6 pack abs and also I plan to talk about hot saunas - are they good or bad?