Despite being very active I've always suffered with a flabby belly which never seemed to go away no matter how much I trained.
However I have just recently cut almost all sugar out of my diet & I have definitely started to notice a difference & I'm feeling better (not so sluggish) - in fact I've lost a few kgs after about 5 weeks of this & I think most of it has come off my abdomen.
I can therefore highly recommend doing away with sugar as it definitely contributes to weight gain.
Also beware of trans fatty acids NinjaFit.
Quote:
June 12, 2006 - Want a big fat belly? Eat lots of trans fats.
Trans fats make you fatter than other foods with the same number of calories -- but that's not all. Researchers at Wake Forest University find that trans fats increase the amount of fat around the belly. They do this not just by adding new fat, but also by moving fat from other areas to the belly.
"Trans fat is worse than anticipated," Wake Forest researcher Lawrence L. Rudel, PhD, says in a news release. "Diets rich in trans fat cause a redistribution of fat tissue into the abdomen and lead to a higher body weight even when the total dietary calories are controlled."
Rudel colleague Kylie Kavanagh, DVM, reported the findings at this week's annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Washington.
In the study, researchers fed 51 male vervet monkeys a western-style diet -- that is, 35% of their diet was fat. Half the monkeys got a lot of trans fat, totaling 8% of their diet. The other monkeys were fed unsaturated fats such as olive oil.
Both types of diets were calorie-controlled. In theory, the monkeys should not have gained weight.
But they did.
Over six years -- what would, in humans, be a 20-year span -- the monkeys who ate unsaturated fats upped their body weight by 1.8%.
Those fed trans fats packed on 7.2%. In humans, that would be enough weight gain to significantly increase risk of diabetes and heart disease.
"Trans fatty acid consumption increases weight gain," Kavanagh says in a news release. "In the world of diabetes, everybody knows that just 5% weight loss makes enormous difference. This little difference [of weight gain seen in the study] was biologically quite significant."
Trans fats are found in vegetable shortenings, some kinds of margarine, and in manufactured baked goods such as cookies, crackers, and snack foods. A major source of trans fat in American diets is fast food fried in the stuff.
I do it for bones and mental health mostly. I find if I am a slug around the house all day I am just not happy. I like being happy. So, I walk, walk, walk. Need to get some resistance (bands?) stuff in there.
I do it for many reasons. I'm trying to get the last 7 pounds off which is the hardest. I'm already at the low end of healthy calorie counting, so I know it's going to be exercise that gets me over the plateau. Changing it up at the gym is my first step, then adding a few more minutes or weights. The mental benefits are just as or more important than the physical for me. Without my twice weekly workouts - which work better for me than three a week but that's just me - I would be alot more difficult to live and work with
I do it for bones and mental health mostly. I find if I am a slug around the house all day I am just not happy. I like being happy. So, I walk, walk, walk. Need to get some resistance (bands?) stuff in there.
And I LOVE my classical stretch at night. OMG.
Keeps me happy too. A hike in the woods with the puppies is good for the brain.
When I'm not able to hike at my normal fast pace, I wear ankle weights as a 'force multiplier'. They're inexpensive and effective. I like the neoprene ones that have removable weights. The 'sandbag' style tend to let all the sand shift down to the ankle and become uncomfortable.
Resistance bands secured to a doorknob or similar work great for the stabilizer muscles in the shoulders.
__________________ I'd rather meander for the prevention than race for the cure.
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