(Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle)

Get A tight and Toned Tummy

Do You Want a Toned and Tight Midsection?

How would you like to have a toned and tight abdominal region like this (yours truly about 27 years ago)? Those rock-hard abs look like armored plating which could repel bullets.

Although I am now 60 years old, and my midsection doesn't look quite like it did then, it is still toned and will remain so as long as I conscientiously exercise and limit fat producing caloric intake.

Despite what some commercial ads and late night infomercials would lead you to believe, it takes more than just crunches and sit-ups to achieve chiseled abs.

First let me dispel the myth that a person can target one specific area of the body for fat loss (spot reducing.) Studies have proven that spot reducing will not work.

It is true however that almost everyone has the ability to lose body fat; this loss will be from the abdominal region before anywhere else in the body, and more fat will be lost from the upper body in proportion to the lower body area.

That's just the nature of how your physical body works.

Scientific studies, along with my personal 30 plus years of bodybuilding experience, shows that the following three parameters are necessary to produce sustainable weight loss which will lead to a toned and tight midsection:

• diet
• exercise
• strong compulsion for a lifestyle change (positive self-image)

I have mentioned two key phrases towards producing a toned midsection: sustainable and lifestyle change. It is a fact that any fad diet will lead to weight loss in the beginning. But the nature of these hundreds of diets inevitably lead to a plateau.

Fat loss will level off, and because the diet is contrary to what will ultimately satisfy your body, you fall off the wagon - so to speak. In other words, the diet cannot be sustained because it is unnatural.

As many hundreds of thousands of dieters have discovered over the years, will power alone is not enough to sustain dieting. You may be faithful for awhile, some longer than others, but at the end of the day, you will crash and burn.

Of the three factors that I listed above necessary for successful tummy toning, strong compulsion for a change in lifestyle is mandatory. It begins in the mind.

Mindset Change

Before I became successful at packing pounds of solid muscle on my naturally slim frame (I am a natural ectomorph), I first determined within myself that I wanted to achieve it. It mattered to me what people thought when they looked at me.

I was dissatisfied with my "skinny" body too. And it didn't help that I was being called "skinny." The motivation was there to make a change in my appearance.

Once I altered my mindset, it became easy to take the necessary steps to gain muscular body weight. I got up early in the morning, or after a day of work, and trekked to the gym. There I lifted hundreds of pounds of weight a week to stimulate muscle growth.

I then ate a huge number of calories needed for weight gain.

It worked! I began my bodybuilding program weighing a paltry 150 pounds at my present height of 5 feet, 10 inches. I began to seriously lift weights in 1978 when I was 27 years old.

In a few years time I managed to pack on over 50 pounds of solid muscle. (It is easier and faster to gain fat weight, but it is harder and takes longer to build quality lean body mass.)

Though many of you reading this don't have a weight gain problem, the approach I used to achieve my objective is identical to the approach you will need to achieve yours - a toned tummy.

Diet and Exercise

I combined diet and exercise because doing one without the other is like trying to row with one oar. It is true though that nutrition (diet) is about 80 percent of the equation. But exercise is necessary towards a disease-free life and a greater amount of calorie-burning lean body mass (muscle.)

Successful weight loss in order to achieve a toned midsection goes contrary to what you may be hearing and reading. You don't have to give up eating your favorite foods. You don't have to avoid steak and eggs, or butter on your pancakes.

You just have to substitute conventional, supermarket foods with certified organic and pastured-raised meat, poultry, eggs, and butter. If you drink milk, skip the fat-free and low-fat varieties. As a matter of fact, skip pastuerzied milk altogether. Try to locate and drink raw milk.

Avoid eating as much processed foods as possible. They are loaded with artificial sweeteners, especially high fructose corn syrup. These sweeteners disrupt your body's hormones which regulate hunger and a feeling of fulness.

Add more farm-fresh vegetables purchased from local farmer's markets to your menu. Eat more home-cooked meals as opposed to constantly eating out. The typical home-cooked meal is a lot more nutritious than any pricey restaurant dish.

The Wind-Up

By following these simple steps, you will dramatically increase the amount of fiber and protein in your diet. These nutrients will fill you up so that you will not want the calorie-dense processed food that will pack on pounds of useless body fat.

The government will not subsidize healthy fruit and vegetable farming. That funding is reserved for genetically modified wheat, corn, and soy. You'd be surprised how much food and drink contain these grains and their derivatives.

Ever notice how many of your local supermarket shelves are taken up by breakfast cereals, potato chips and pretzels, and pastries and candies of all shapes, sizes, and colors? Add to this the all ready prepared foods like macaroni and cheese and others too numerous to mention.

Stay away from all of these. Prepare your meals at home from scratch. And yes. It is okay to indulge in ice cream and cheese cake and that chocolate you just can't do without. Just don't over do it.

If you need help in obtaining a toned tummy, you might want to check out this webpage and video.

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