I talk to a lot of people who tell me they want to lose weight around their midsection, and I’m with them- we should all try to keep our abdominal fat down. However, I try to remind people we can’t spot reduce and they should focus on losing weight overall and then they will see a reduction in their waistline eventually. So what should you do if you’d like to attain this goal? Here are some ideas:
Track your food intake
I’m sure at least one of us on this blog has already raved about My Fitness Pal but for those of you who don’t know what that is it’s a website (also an app for smart phones) that is completely free where you can track your calories, exercise, weight goals and weight history. There are probably dozens (or hundreds?) of tracking websites out there, this just happens to be the one I use so it’s the one I recommend. Knowing how many calories you are taking in is important in weight loss, weight maintenance, or weight gain and it’s very easy to do. Tracking your calories is one of the first things I suggest when someone tells me they are frustrated and cannot seem to lose weight. Not only do you get to see how many calories you’re consuming in a day but you can view what you are eating most often. How many servings of vegetables are you getting each day? Is there too much processed food in your diet? Try it for a week and see what you think!
Strength Training
If this is something you already do, keep up the good work! Lifting weights, resistance training, strength training- whatever you want to call it, try doing it 2 times a week, on nonconsecutive days. I’m talking total body strength training- not just abdominal exercises. Don’t get me wrong, they can be included in the workout but you should incorporate exercises that hit all the major muscle groups.
High-intensity Interval Training
I’m sure you have heard of this before- this is throwing in bouts of fast, short sprints into your cardio routine. While it can be running sprints, it’s not limited to that- you can do this on a bike or elliptical as well. I like doing 30 second “sprints” on the exercise bike right now, followed by 45-60 seconds slow peddling; it gets my heart rate up and my legs burning! Typically I don’t go much longer than 15-20 minutes so this is great for days when I don’t have a lot of time to exercise but am trying to still maximize my caloric burn. The American College of Sports Medicine only recommends doing one HIIT workout a week, perhaps building up to two at most then supplementing with a lower-intensity, steady- state cardio activity on the other days.