Tired of having the same resolution year after year? If you belong to the majority (60%) of Americans who are either overweight or are already obese, chances you’re promising yourself again this year that you’re getting fit and “really” losing excess weight. The way to finally get rid of belly fat and keep it off? Change your lifestyle by eating better and becoming more active. Now.

For most of us, exercise is best reserved for the weekend when we have extra time on our hands. People should realize that modern life is increasingly becoming sedentary- unless of course you work as a stuntman or play with balls in front of large crowds for a living. We spend hours on our butts on our commute to and from work each day and spend an even greater number of hours on our office chairs or at home plopped-down on the couch in front of the boob tube. Combine this with the high-calorie processed junk we consider food and voila! Love-handles and a soft, jiggly midsection.

If the image of a protruding gut isn’t enough to make you to eat healthier and finally get-up and burn-off those excess calories, think about this: having a flabby, over-sized stomach paves the way for a host of life-threatening health problems like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Still not enough to inspire you to get busy and sweat-out the flab? Imagine spending this summer at the beach with a shredded six pack of your own. A healthy diet (more fruits, veggies and lean meats in place of fast food) combined with fat loss exercises optimized for more visible results in less time can let you reach your ideal weight faster.

Some people find the monotony of the gym too dull and clinical and thus drop their fitness program after a few weeks. The answer? Outdoor activities like mountain biking, hiking and backpacking. These would be great weekend workouts and would be refreshing breaks to your weekday weight-loss sessions. The scenery, open skies and fresh air are perfect for getting your mind off all your fat-burning efforts. Don’t knock the effectivity of these workouts either- a person weighing 180 pounds riding a mountain bike on a trail for 3 hours can easily get rid of over 2,000 calories. These whole-body exercises also employ several muscle groups- with focus on the core and back muscles. A strong back can mean a world of difference when you reach your years when wisdom takes the place of experience. It can save you from being a slave to oppressive back pain which affects 80% of American males at some point in their lives.

Regular exercise can also help you sleep better, feel better about yourself and take-on a positive outlook on life because of the increase of self-confidence, lower stress and increase of endorphins in your system. A happier you means a more productive you and a  more prosperous Year of the Rabbit!

There are countless diet schemes to choose from and some of them actually work. The best abs diet programs are those that don’t necessarily minimize food intake but rather optimizes the sources of protein and energy to avoid excess fat, sugar and harmful substances. Our body’s metabolism slows down to a halt to try to conserve energy when we’re hungry and this can only mean slower fat burn.

Making it a point to eat lean sources protein like fish and chicken breasts instead of bacon burgers and hamhocks will supply your body with the protein it needs without adding blubber to your belly. Opting for complex sources of carbohydrates like whole-grain pasta and bread instead of plain white bread and rice will also help you avoid empty calories and speed-up fat-loss.

Eating healthier food will let you lose weight without going hungry and lose muscle tissue. Experts and nutritionists also say that when we eat is as important for rapid fat loss as what we eat. Eating healthy mini-meals frequently (every 2-3 hours) will help avoid binging. Most people tend to overeat when they let themselves go hungry. Our blood sugar drops when we start to feel those hunger pangs and this leads to increased appetite and binging on the next meal that comes.

Staying active throughout the week can also complement your six pack abs diet and double the speed of your weight-loss from fat. Combining resistance exercises (weight-lifting, push-ups, etc.) with cardiovascular exercises done intensely will shorten your workout sessions and have you out of your icky, sweaty gym clothes quicker.

Resistance exercises build muscle, and the more muscles we pack on our frame, the better our body is able to burn excess calories throughout the day (yes, even while we sleep). Cardio exercises raise our heart rate for sustained periods, causing efficient calorie burn and fast belly fat loss. Intense cardiovascular workouts are perfect exercises for six pack abs because they also boost metabolism and promote post-workout calorie-burn.

Lastly, getting ample rest and reducing daily stress will prevent our body from producing a fat-storing hormone called Cortisol from being produced. The more of this substance our system produces, the slower the effects we get from our abs diet and fat loss efforts. We can reduce stress by learning effective meditation (such as in Yoga or Tai Chi) and breathing techniques, as well as taking a more positive outlook on life.

Again, a diet for six pack abs doesn’t mean cutting-back on food intake and enduring hunger pangs. It’s all about choosing healthier sources of nourishment. Adopting an active, stress-free lifestyle can also speed-up fat loss and complement your six pack abs diet.

Dieting by cutting-back on calories oftentimes don’t work because it leaves us feeling deprived and combine this with seeing slow results, triggers loss of motivation. The dieter more likely than not falls off the wagon and goes on a binge and ends-up heavier that when they started.

Fat-loss (natural, without knives and scalpels) is all about using-up more caloric energy than we get from the food we eat. Since modern lifestyle has us sitting in the office or blogging away on social sites while munching on jelly donuts, fries, or what have you, it’s no wonder two-thirds of Americans are overweight.

Exercise and working-out the cardiovascular system cuts-down the risk of heart-disease and hypertension, high-blood pressure and a host of other maladies plaguing modern man. What more, it makes us stronger by toning and adding muscle to our physique, improve joint-strength and most of all, burn-up body fat. It may be tiring to think about especially when there’s a good show on TV or the latest online game is waiting for your skills, but working-out regularly is well worth the effort because it also triggers the release of endorphins which alleviate our mood and makes us feel better about ourselves. In light of these effects of regular exercise, it would be foolish to forego working-out and try to lose weight by chugging down a diet shake or pill.

Trying lose weight by cutting-down food intake can actually be slowing down your fat-loss efforts because our metabolism slows down or even grinds to a halt when we’re hungry. This means our body stops burning calories from fat to try to conserve energy and turns to glycogen stored in our muscle instead. Since glycogen is a necessary substance for muscle development, we end up losing precious muscle tissue which plays a big part in fat burn.

The best way to lose belly fat fast is by choosing healthy food and doing the right exercises (not just sit-ups and crunches). Planning what you eat during the different times of the day can even help boost metabolism and fat burn without making us feel like we’re depriving ourselves. Carbs and other energy-rich food in the early part of the day and proteins and vegetables in the late afternoon and evening will help avoid excess calories which turn into ugly belly fat. Be careful to buy your vegetables and meat from a reputable grocery though as a recent study says even these can be hazardous to our health.

Just as choosing the right foods to eat can help a lot in fast fat loss, choosing the right exercise regimen can also guarantee your success in getting those six pack abs you’ve been dreaming about. Experts say a combination of intense cardio exercise done in combination with resistance training done in a circuit burns the most calories in less time. This even kicks-up metabolism resulting in continuous calorie-burn leading to faster weight-loss from fat!

How to get abs fast? It’s not like you think. Most people start a workout program to get lean and get six pack abs, but because our midsections are the energy storage areas of our body, this process can be quite lengthy. It’s all about knowing the right approach to exercise and diet. Most people rely on sit-ups and crunches to get six pack abs to isolate belly fat, but this is where their mistake lies. Ab exercises develop and strengthen the abs, but there won’t be a beach-worthy six-pack if nothing is done about the layer of fat keeping the ab muscles from view.

Ab exercise gadgets and crunches don’t really burn the belly fat. We can have a really muscular stomach, but with flab surrounding it, there won’t be a six pack. A combination of the right cardio and weight-training exercises along with a healthy eating habit is the best approach on how to get abs quicker.

Cardio exercises done in short, intense bursts combined with resistance training with minimal rest in between sets effectively boosts calorie-burn and kicks our metabolic rate into high gear at the same time. Burning the most calories in less time means a leaner body and a well-defined abdomen. The added muscle that comes with weight training raises the metabolism and a high metabolism means better calorie-burning efficiency and this translates to less time in the gym.

Eating the proper foods at the proper times can also determine how fast we get six pack abs. Energy-rich foods that are high in carbohydrates should be consumed earlier in the day so the calories get used-up as we go about our activities. Fat and sweets should be kept at a minimum lest it show up on our physique. Generally, we should eat lighter later in the day to avoid excess calories which gets stored as fat. The more natural and unprocessed the food the better it is for our health and fitness. Fast-food and processed foods like hotdogs and chips contain loads of fat and artificial flavorings to make them pleasing to our palate. They also contain preservatives which are bad for our health in the long run.

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