Beverly Monical » abdominal fat

Are You Ready For Spring Clothes?

helper — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:15:03 +0000

Spring is just around the corner. No more hiding behind all the bulky sweaters and coats. Those slim-fitting, shorter tops will be everywhere… Is your body ready to wear them????

It seems every winter we use the excuse of the cold weather to keep us from exercising and instead we eat all those “comfort foods”. Are you one of these people? I used to be much worse than I am now. If you “bulked up” this winter and are looking for ways to get rid of it, I am here today to give you some ideas.

First and foremost you have to eat like you are your “Goal Size”. What I mean by that is if you are a size 14 and your goal is a size 10, you must eat like a size 10 and be more active. You have to live like you are that size 10 and make the correct food choices.

To obtain smaller abs crunches alone will not do it. Keep in mind, your abdominals are actually comprised of three major muscles: the rectus abdominis, the obliques, and the transverse abdominis. Each muscle has its own function and thus specific ways to target it. They are divided into external and internal muscle groups, and reside on both sides of your midsection. Both sets of obliques have the same two main functions: torso lateral flexion, which is bending the upper half of your body side to side, and torso rotation, which is twisting your upper body away from your torso. The obliques are used in any movement in which your torso bends laterally or twists.

Cardio is a major component in losing fat on your abs. I have also found that exercises using BodyLastic bands are amazing. I started using them 4 weeks ago and the transformation is amazing. I highly recommend getting these bands and using their free exercise classes. Click here for more information.

If you still are thinking, “I probably won’t use them when I buy it. I need someone to push me”…I can help you there too. My partner Melissa Bierman and I, Beverly Monical, have a WebTV Fat Loss Show starting March 29th. Check it out here and join us for the accountability you need to meet your goals.
You can check out a couple of testimonials here too.

Why Whittle Your Middle?

helper — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:33:18 +0000

I think we can all agree that “muffin tops” — the fat hanging over the waist of a too tight pair of pants and beer bellies are not attractive. Still, when it comes to excess belly fat, the situation is more serious than how you look. Excess belly fat has been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some cancers and stress.

Let’s talk about stress and what it can do. When you have stress, your body releases certain “fight-or-flight” stress hormones that are produced in the adrenal glands: cortisol, norepinephrine and epinephrine. When you first get stressed, these hormones kick into gear. Norepinephrine tells your body to stop producing insulin so that you can have plenty of fast-acting blood glucose ready. Epinephrine will relax the muscles in your stomach and intestines and decrease blood flow to these organs. Once the stress has passed, cortisol tells the body to stop producing these hormones and to go back to digesting regularly. It’s normal for your cortisol levels to go up and down throughout the day, but when you are chronically stressed your cortisol level goes up — and stays there.

When your stress and cortisol levels are high, the body actually resists weight loss. It makes your body thinks times are hard and you might starve, so it hoards the fat you eat or have present on your body. Cortisol tends to take fat from healthier areas, like your butt and hips, and move it to your abdomen which has more cortisol receptors. That’s not fair! In the process, it turns once–healthy peripheral fat into unhealthy visceral fat (the fat in your abdomen that surrounds your organs) that increases inflammation and insulin resistance in the body. This belly fat then leads to more cortisol because it has higher concentrations of an enzyme that converts inactive cortisone to active cortisol. The more belly fat you have, the more active cortisol will be converted by these enzymes. Another vicious cycle created by visceral fat.

So what if you have belly fat? Lose the fat by following the best nutrition and lifestyle strategies that support you in times of stress, like the ones in my program. When you limit your caffeine to 200 milligrams a day, avoid simple carbs, processed foods, and refined grains, and get plenty of high-quality protein, in addition to de-stressing yourself, you’ll automatically help your body keep your stress hormones, especially cortisol, lower. It’s a day by day choice you’ll have to make, but the results will be worth. Think how good it will be when you are as healthy on the inside as you look on the outside.

I recommend you check out my other website, TotalWellness TV.

Fat Loss Is Better Than Weight Loss

Beverly — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:00:13 +0000

It happens all the time. You’ve stayed on top of your workouts AND watched your diet every day, but then — Bam! — you hit that dreaded weight-loss plateau and can’t get the scale to budge.
Instead of getting angry at what the scale is saying, take a minute to think about what the scale is NOT telling you — like what a strong and healthy individual you’re becoming. Do you have more endurance? Have you lost inches from your waist? Do you look better in your clothes? Don’t be a slave to the scale. Weigh in only once a week, and the rest of the time just take note of the difference in how you’re feeling.

Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be why the scales show you gained. Always go by the way your clothes fit or measure yourself. Lost inches means lost fat which is wonderful!!!

Are Big Bellies Dangerous For Your Health?

Beverly — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:18:19 +0000

Medical experts have long suspected that people with excess deep-body fat are at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and ongoing research bolsters that belief. In 2007, the National Institutes of Health reported that studies at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston show that deep-belly fat also known as visceral adipose tissue, produces higher levels of a protein that appears to reduce insulin sensitivity regardless of age, gender or body mass index. Levels of the protein were three times higher in people who were obese than those who were lean.

Dr. George Griffing from Brentwood,Mo. Believes that measuring abdominal height is more efficient and accurate at predicting the risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease than more commonly used methods such as calculating BMI, waist to hip ratios or measuring the circumference of patients waists. Those all factor in subcutaneous fat on legs, arms and hips, which is not as bad for you as fat in the gut. Measuring a patient’s abdominal height zeroes in on visceral fat, which oozes between organs, bathing the liver in fatty acids.

Dr. Griffing’s studies are not yet standardized but he says most have found that abdominal heights that measure more than 10 inches in women and 12 inches in men triple the chance of cardiovascular disease.

Studies are still being done on this measurement.

Are you going to get the ruler or yardstick out tonight?

Losing Fat will help you be healthier. Watch these videos for a suggestion about something that is safe and has a 6 month, 100% money-back guarantee. Click the links below.
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One Body, One Life, Choose Wisely
Beverly