Posts Tagged ‘toning abs’

A Vital Shopping List for Toning Abs

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

The only way to reduce body fat and show off all the time you’ve spent toning abs is by following a well rounded, three pronged fitness program including cardio, resistance training, and nutrition.  Burning fat requires a calorie deficit which should be attained by eating healthy, ‘clean’ foods that will give your cells the nutrients they need to function at optimal levels.

If you have extra body fat over your abs, then there is no exercise for abs that will make make that fat disappear.  While a good exercise for ab routine will increase core strength and possibly result in a toning of the abs underneath the excess fat, there is NO exercise for abs that will miraculously burn off the fat of your stomach.

Purchasing the right foods at the grocery store will help you get on the path to clean eating, proper  nutrition, and with proper portion control will result in a visible toning of the abs.   Use this shopping list as a checklist to ensure you have nutritious, wholesome foods in your kitchen when it’s time to prepare a meal or snack.


Protein Carbohydrates Fat
Buffalo
Cod
Crab/Lobster
Egg Substitute
Egg Whites
Extra Firm Tofu
Flank Steak
Free Range Egg Whites
Fresh Fish
Lean Ground Beef
Lean Ground Sirloin
Lean Pork
Lean Sirloin Steak
Lean Turkey Products
L.F Cottage Cheese
Ostrich
Salmon
Shrimp
Skinless Chicken Breast
Soy Products
Protein Powder
Swordfish
Tuna
Turkey Breast
Whey Protein Powder
Baked Potato
Barley
Brown Rice
Corn
Old Fashioned Oatmeal
Pumpkin
Spinach Pasta
Squash
Strawberries
Sweet Potato
Wheat Pasta
Whole Grain Pasta
Whole Grain Tortillas
Whole wheat bagels
Whole wheat bread
Whole wheat English muffins
Wild Rice

Vegetables
Asparagus
Beans (black, navy)
Bell Peppers
Broccoli
Broccoli Slaw
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Cole Slaw (dry)
Cucumber
Garbanzo beans
Green Beans
Green Peppers
Kale
Lentils
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Onions
Snow Peas
Spinach
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Almond Butter
Canola Mayonnaise
Cold water fish
Flaxseed Oil
Flaxseeds
Free Range Egg Yolks
Natural Peanut butter
Olive oil
Olives
Peanuts
Safflower oil
Sunflower Oil
Tahini
Walnuts


Fruits
Apples
Apricots
Blackberries
Blueberries
Clementine
Grapefruit
Mango
Melon
Orange
Peaches
Raspberries
Strawberries

Stocking your kitchen with foods packed with vitamins, nutrients, and fiber, makes it much easier to stay focused on your eating plan. Instead of filling your pantry with “junk”, use this list as a guideline to providing healthy alternatives.  It will make every exercise for abs you do more effective and give you visibly noticable returns ie: toning abs.

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Overcoming Common Exercise For Abs Program Misconceptions

Monday, September 7th, 2009

The best exercise for abs isn’t really an exercise at all, it’s a well-rounded healthy program that focuses on nutrition, strength
training, and cardiovascular exercise.

If you want your abs to show, take a look at the bigger picture. High intensity, full body workout programs combined with a healthy but controlled calorie diet will stimulate metabolism to reduce overall body fat. To get results, you must basically hit ‘over-ride’ and stop listening to all the misconceptions that have flooded the marketplace.

One overlooked element when it comes to exercise for abs, toning abs, or losing body fat is nutrition. There is so much conflicting information on the market as how much work it actually takes to achieve a certain look that many people become very frustrated and don’t know which program to follow. It is possible to lose body fat in a healthy way, to develop a daily diet and exercise plan that is healthy and allows you to maintain a lean body.

Most often, when it comes to developing your abs, people are led to believe that a simple piece of equipment or an exercise will make their abs look the way they want. And while many of these pieces of equipment probably do help strengthen the abs, they unfortunately do not facilitate the stomach fat loss that’s required to reveal all that hard work.

Another misconception about developing your abs is when it comes to the actual exercises for abs themselves. Again, most products on the market lead people to believe that ab-specific training will allow them to ‘spot-reduce’ (meaning lose body fat in a specific area only). Regrettably spot reducing is not possible. It’s not that crunches, leg raises or even some of the abs equipment on the market are a waste of time. They generally just don’t provide enough of a metabolic response when it comes to burning calories and reducing body fat.

Unless educated as a trainer or fitness instructor, if you have set a goal to get in shape, lose body fat, or develop your abs, it’s helpful to have a structured program to replicate. Choosing a program or teacher to guide you through the process of getting in shape or developing and toning your abs, or whatever your goal can be a little confusing.

Here are 10 tips you can use to choose the right program or to guide yourself. These ten tips are things you should consider as you journey from being over-weight or out-of-shape to feeling good about how you look and achieving your goals.

  1. Comprehensive workout programs for gym or home workouts
  2. Video demonstrations to demonstrate exercises with proper form
  3. Informative articles written by reputable, experienced professionals
  4. Healthy Nutrition Strategies and meal plans recommending proper caloric intake
  5. Calorie Calculator – helps you understand how much food you’re eating
  6. Motivational guidance from a trainer or friend
  7. Fitness calculators -help you understand calories burned
  8. Strength training guidance and demonstrations
  9. Education and how-to for advanced exercises
  10. Self-Motivation and Self-Discipline

You see, it’s not just an exercise for abs regime that will be the one ‘cure-all’ solution, but a total change in lifestyle and mental attitude as well. This is what I believe is really the answer to you achieving your fitness goals.

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