photo credit: CarbonNYC

How To Stop Overeating
Eating too much is easily done and the body often lets it happen because of the strong sensations hunger can cause. Combine hunger pains with the fact that it takes around 20 minutes for the brain to acknowledge that the stomach is full and it becomes clearer why we can tend to overeat.

The stomach secretes a hormone called CCK which lets the brain know that you have eaten and that you are now full. So if it takes 15 to 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that you’re full then subsequently it makes sense that you need to stop eating well before the feeling of fullness comes along. When you think you are about 75% full you should put your knife and fork down and stop eating. Hopefully in the long term this will also help you to serve up smaller portions.

On the subject of portions, you need to immediately start to serve yourself much smaller portions. Even cutting down to half your normal portion size may be necessary. The next step is to start eating as slowly as practically possible. Working with the 75% full theory you should try finishing your meal with a little left over on the plate (I don’t encourage throwing away good food so either save it as left overs, give it to the dog or perhaps add it to your compost). It may take a while for you to adjust your level of fullness and for your stomach to shrink down a little but constantly remind yourself that you don’t want to overeat, remember to stop at the 75% full level and acknowledge if you feel full. If so walkaway and stop eating.

5 Foods To Make You Feel Fuller For Longer

• Have a breakfast high in fiber. Try brown bread or an oat cereal. These kind of high fiber foods are full of complex carbohydrates and are hard for your body to break down, keeping you feeling fuller for longer
• Avoid junk food as much as possible. These foods are full of sugar and your body digests them easily, thus leaving you unsatisfied and remaining hungry
• Eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as you can get your hands on. They make great snacks, they are low in calories and will fill you up. Apples are especially good for filling you up with few calories
• Eat lean meat. Lean meat is a great source of protein which like fiber can keep you feeling fuller for longer. If you are a vegetarian then check out these other sources of protein
• Not a food but remember to drink plenty of water, besides the fact it’s wonderful for you it will make you feel full

5 Top Tips To Avoid Overeating

• Limit the volume of food you have in the home, particularly junk and “comfort” food
• Don’t stockpile foods for unexpected guests. If it’s there you will eat it
• Try different meals. If you have the same meals over and over again you’re more likely to mindlessly overeat
• Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you do overeat one day then the next day you need to eat leaner and workout. The exercise will help you feel better and will hopefully remind you not to overeat. If you overeat and don’t exercise you are going to put on weight.
• Remember, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing

*If you enjoyed this article then check out my previous post on how to Avoid Cravings and Snacking

One of the problems with winter approaching is that our bodies are more covered up and we sometimes lose the motivation that we have to stay in shape over those warmer months. For some, winter can become an excuse to stay inside, skip the gym and eat heavier foods. Our bodies are no longer as much on display each day and we may use this as an excuse to overeat and under exercise.

photo credit: Thomas Hawk

Even though most of us are aware of the risks that winter brings in terms of weight gain and putting on that little bit of extra belly fat, many of us still fall victim to it. Those extra few pounds can add up pretty quickly and with every added year and pound that weight becomes harder and harder to shift. Although this weight gain is common and easy enough to do it doesn’t have to be this way.

Obviously the key lies in weight prevention. A major factor in the potential for weight gain over the colder months is the fact that we are generally moving less. Combine this with some over indulgence of heavier foods and warm desserts compared with summer salads and fruit based meals and it easily explains the increased weight.

Crucial to preventing the winter wight gain is maintaining your level of movement and activity. Shorter days may mean there is less time for physical activity than in summer but you must force yourself to continue your training schedule. If you find you can no longer get yourself out of bed to face those cold mornings then shift your training sessions to the afternoon or evening. As with all exercise whether it be in the winter or summer it is often more motivating to work out with someone else. So grab a friend, get a personal trainer or participate in a team sport. Indoor tennis, soccer, basketball or netball are great ideas for a winter team sport.

Giving your body a decent amount of exposure to sunlight is crucial for your health but also helps out with your mood and feeling of overall wellness. Going for a simple short lunch time walk can be a great addition to your training and will help with your weight management and can even increase your energy levels.

While you need to keep up your physical activity over winter the second most important factor in winter weight management is simply watching what you are putting into your mouth. Try limiting winter foods such as puddings, cakes, pies, pastries and chocolate to only once a week treats. Make sure your fill your meals up with lots of vegetables and try adding a soup to your evening meals. If you eat soup either as an entrée or as a main meal you are less likely to overeat during the meal or later at night.

There is a belief that it is natural to put on weight in colder months because of our human ancestry. Our bodies may see it as a time to store energy, or fat for the colder months. The weather gets cold, the blood vessels in the skin contract and blood moves to the center of the body. While there it may stimulate internal organs such as the digestive tract, and its activity can increase. When the digestive tract grows more active, appetite increases, and if the appetite increases, naturally so does your weight. However because we now spend most of our time in temperature controlled environments it no longer becomes and excuse to put on weight.

Finally, don’t give in to thinking that it’s okay to let yourself and your weight slide a little over winter. You will only regret it when summer comes back around and it becomes harder to shift those extra pounds and get a flat stomach.

6 Tips To Stay In Shape Over Winter

1. Drink plenty of water every day, its good for you and keeps you feeling full
2. Limit winter comfort foods to once a week at most
3. If you’re craving a sweet desert try baking a home made apple dish
4. Replace full cream milk with skim milk in your coffees, teas and other warm drinks
5. Do not stop with your regular workout routine just because it’s winter and you’re a little more covered up
6. If you don’t like the cold mornings then move your workout session to the afternoon or evening

He is a former “fat-kid” so he understands weight loss first hand. Last week Craig released his free Ebook, “So You’ve Decided To Get In Shape (Again)”, through his website. If you have ever decided to lose weight, get in shape or develop a flat stomach and failed then give this book a try. It might just give you that little bit of psychology and motivation that you need to make a massive change in your life.

In his free ebook Craig discusses:

1. The First Bit – The Head Stuff
2. The Second Bit – The Exercise Stuff
3. The Third Bit – The Food Stuff

Craig’s book contains powerful common sense suggestions based on his twenty five years of helping people create positive physical change.

To get your copy of the free Ebook all you have to do is subscribe to Craig’s email updates.

Here is the link: So You’ve Decided To Get In Shape (Again)

Have you tried everything under the sun to get a flat stomach, only to come up disappointed? Have you fallen prey to all the gimmicks, fad diets and shameless infomercials promising you that elusive flat stomach that you desire?

Well fret no more, I’m going to let you in on the two ‘secrets’ that will help you shed unwanted fat and reveal your toned, flat stomach once and for all.

The first secret for a flat stomach is eating supportively. While this doesn’t seem like a secret at all, most women get this wrong in spite of their best – but misguided – efforts. Women have fallen prey to low-fat, low-carb, Hollywood, grapefruit, South Beach and every other over hyped diet that marketers can dream up, all in hopes of shedding those unwanted pounds. But eating supportively is isn’t about dieting or deprivation; it’s about moderation and balance. While cutting carbs or fats out of your nutrition plan might give you a temporary loss of a couple of pounds, it’s typically followed by a drop in metabolism and a weight gain of more than you lost in the first place once you go back to your old eating habits.

So what is eating supportively? Eating supportively is having protein and carbohydrates at every meal. It’s grazing on 4-6 meals or snack each day instead of missing meals and then gorging yourself. It’s enjoying a healthy breakfast and not drinking your calories. But most of all, eating supportively is enjoying the foods you love in moderation instead of in excess.

If eating supportively is the first secret to a flat stomach, then what’s the second? The second flat stomach secret is resistance training. Unfortunately, just as fad diets have stood in the path of women achieving the flat stomachs they so desired, so have the myths of spot reduction and cardio being the best method for fat loss. Late night infomercials have long promoted gadgets that promised to spot reduce those trouble spots that women struggle with and sucked us in with testimonials from fitness models that undoubtedly picked up a nifty paycheck for endorsing their wares. But spot reduction is a myth. Think about it – have you ever met someone with a flat stomach and fat arms? Didn’t think so. If spot reduction was possible then undoubtedly one of these happy customers would have toned and tightened their stomach, yet kept their flabby arms.

The other myth that has led women astray is the belief that cardio is the best solution for fat loss. Treadmill manufacturers have sold the virtues of the ‘fat burning zone’ and led us to believe that we could plod along on a treadmill watching Oprah and before long a flat stomach would be ours. These two myths have diverted us from the path of what really does work – resistance training. Resistance training is a flat stomach’s best friend because not only does an effective resistance training session burn plenty of calories while you’re doing it, but it keeps you’re metabolism revved long after you’re done. One recent study showed that you’re metabolism would stay elevated for over 36 hours after a resistance training session.

Try to get that out of an aerobics class.

And there’s another benefit of resistance training when it comes to getting a flat stomach. The lean muscle that you gain will raise you’re resting metabolic rate and help you burn more fat all day long, each and every day.

There you have it, two ‘secrets’ that are guaranteed to boost your metabolism and give you that flat stomach you’ve been longing for. So ditch the diet books and the aerobics classes and start eating supportively and resistance training. Before long that flat stomach will finally be yours.

About the Author

Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women’s fitness coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of the internationally popular e-book – Fit Yummy Mummy - Burn Your Baby Fat & Get Your Body Back. Go to http://www.fityummymummy.com to get your FREE copy of her special report: “The Five Ways To Boost Your Metabolism.”

Exercise 1: Squats
While standing extend your arms out, parallel to the ground while flexing your triceps. Then, initiate a squat from your hips by sitting back and down keeping the weight on your heels as opposed to the balls of your feet. Squat down to a position where your thighs are approximately parallel to the ground, then return up to the starting position. Complete 10 to 20 reps.

Check out this article for a full description on the squat.

Exercise 2: Plank Push-Ups
Begin in a push up position but with your elbows on the ground and resting on your forearms. Your elbows should be bent at a 90 degree angle. Push off the ground with one arm and then the next. Squeeze your abs as you push up. You should be lifting yourself up to a fully extended push up position. Lower back down to the starting position and repeat, this time leading with the opposite arm. Aim to not let your back sag down towards the ground. Complete 10 to 20 reps.

Exercise 3: Walking Lunges
Start with your feet at shoulder width apart. While maintaining a straight line, stride forward with your right leg and land with your left toes just touching the ground, your left heel should be raised. Once your right foot lands, allow your left knee to fall down to the ground. Push back up with your right leg and then repeat on the other side. You should try form a consistent rhythm, just stopping the lunge and pushing back up before your knee hits the ground. Complete 20 repetitions.

Exercise 4: Bent Over Rows
For this exercise you need a barbell, workout bag or you could use dumbbells. Use a medium weight on the bar and grip the bar a little wider than a shoulder width apart. Stand up straight, pull your shoulder blades down, keep your head straight and contract your abdominals. Slowly bend forward, keeping your back straight and pushing your hips out, stop when your chest is almost parallel with the floor. Pull the bar into your chest keeping your elbows out to the sides. Exhale as you lift, inhale as you lower the bar down. Gently return to a standing position. Complete 2 sets of 12 reps.

Exercise 5: The Sprinter

The sprinter is very similar to the bicycle crunch except that the hands are not behind the head, rather positioned in a sprinting motion and you sit up higher with the sprinter.

Lie down on your back, making sure your back is firmly against the floor. Lie down flat but keep your heels hovering about 6 inches off the ground. Crunch up and bring your left arm up with the elbow bent to resemble a sprinters motion. At the top of the crunch bring your right knee into your chest. Repeat for the other side of the body and do 20 reps.

The Front Squat

As you may have already discovered, the squat is at the top of the heap (along with deadlifts) as one of the most effective overall exercises for stimulating body composition changes (muscle gain and fat loss). This is because exercises like squats and deadlifts use more muscle groups under a heavy load than almost any other weight bearing exercises known to man. Hence, these exercises stimulate the greatest hormonal responses (growth hormone, testosterone, etc.) of all exercises.

In fact, university research studies have even proven that inclusion of squats into a training program increases upper body development, in addition to lower body development, even though upper body specific joint movements are not performed during the squat. Whether your goal is gaining muscle mass, losing body fat, building a strong and functional body, or improving athletic performance, the basic squat and deadlift (and their variations) are the ultimate solution.

If you don’t believe me that squats and deadlifts are THE basis for a lean and powerful body, then go ahead and join all of the other overweight people pumping away mindlessly for hours on boring cardio equipment.

Squats can be done with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, or even just body weight. Squats should only be done with free weights – NEVER with a Smith machine! My ebook, The Truth About Six Pack Abs contains the full story on why machines are so inferior and even potentially DANGEROUS compared to free weights.

The type of squat that people are most familiar with is the barbell back squat where the bar is resting on the trapezius muscles of the upper back. Many professional strength coaches believe that front squats (where the bar rests on the shoulders in front of the head) and overhead squats (where the bar is locked out in a snatch grip overhead throughout the squat) are more functional to athletic performance than back squats with less risk of lower back injury.

I feel that a combination of all three (not necessarily during the same phase of your workouts) will yield the best results for overall muscular development, body fat loss, and athletic performance. Front squats are moderately more difficult than back squats, while overhead squats are considerably more difficult than either back squats or front squats. I’ll cover overhead squats in a future newsletter issue.

If you are only accustomed to performing back squats, it will take you a few sessions to become comfortable with front squats, so start out light. After a couple sessions of practice, you will start to feel the groove and be able to increase the poundage.

To perform front squats:

The front squat recruits the abdominals to a much higher degree for stability due to the more upright position compared with back squats. It is mostly a lower body exercise, but is great for functionally incorporating core strength and stability into the squatting movement. It can also be slightly difficult to learn how to properly rest the bar on your shoulders. There are two ways to rest the bar on the front of the shoulders.

In the first method, you step under the bar and cross your forearms into an “X” position while resting the bar on the dimple that is created by the shoulder muscle near the bone, keeping your elbows up high so that your arms are parallel to the ground. You then hold the bar in place by pressing the thumb side of your fists against the bar for support.

Alternatively, you can hold the bar by placing your palms face up and the bar resting on your fingers against your shoulders. For both methods, your elbows must stay up high to prevent the weight from falling. Your upper arms should stay parallel to the ground throughout the squat. Find out which bar support method is more comfortable for you.

Then, initiate the squat from your hips by sitting back and down keeping the weight on your heels as opposed to the balls of your feet. Squat down to a position where your thighs are approximately parallel to the ground, then press back up to the starting position. Keeping your weight more towards your heels is the key factor in squatting to protect your knees from injury and develop strong injury resistant knee joints.

Keep in mind – squats done correctly actually strengthen the knees; squats done incorrectly can damage the knees. Practice first with an un-weighted bar or a relatively light weight to learn the movement. Most people are surprised how hard this exercise works your abs once you learn the correct form.

Start and Finish Position:

Midpoint Position:

For complete descriptions of over 50 of the most effective full body exercises for stripping away body fat while developing a rock-hard body, download my e-book The Truth About Six Pack Abs

The first step to thinking yourself to a flat stomach is making the decision that you want to change and that you really want to reap the rewards of making that change. This also applies to general weight loss and almost any other goal you want to achieve in your life. You have to be prepared to do anything and everything to achieve your goals. The second part is then believing in your mind that you can change and that it is possible. This is the part that often involves overcoming the internal obstacles that we have placed in our minds.

A lot of us spend our time thinking about the negatives in our lives. This can often be made worse by the negative articles and pictures we see in the media and the friends and family we surround ourselves with. The negativity in our lives can become a self fulfilling prophecy. Ultimately preventing you from losing weight and gaining control of your life.

These negative emotions and feelings surrounding us and infesting our thoughts mean that we often resort to food for the wrong reasons. We eat because we are bored, tired, sad, lonely and angry and we don’t think of the consequences of eating, only the short term feeling of fulfillment that food may bring. It’s only after we eat the food that we feel guilty and create more negativity. Stop and think! No matter how much emotional eating you participate in it’s not going to fix anything and you will never feel better long term from it!

You need to break the negative cycle and replace your negative thoughts with positives one. You also need to stop and think before you put food into your mouth. Ask yourself if this food is providing me with energy (the purpose of food) or am I eating for other reasons?

Creating a new positive mindset around food and weight loss means developing a whole new relationship with food, our mind and our bodies. Perhaps the most powerful thing to keep in the front of your mind and on the tip of your tongue is that we always have the power to choose. You can have that chocolate if you want but do you need to have it?

1. Eat REAL Food!

An easy way to dramatically improve your health is to eat real food! By this I mean eating food in it’s natural state. This means eating food as close as possible to the way nature intended it to be. Consume less processed grains, go for rolled oats over instant, brown rice over white and defiantly no white bread. Try switching to a sourdough or whole grain bread. Actually eat fruit instead of purchasing products that contain “real fruit”. Finally it also means preparing more of your own food at home instead of buying factory produced processed packaged meals.

Following the same line of thought you want to eat foods that contain no or minimal amounts of flavorings, preservatives and colorings. When you do your shopping make sure you actually check the labels and go for products where you recognize all the ingredients. Avoid items that are made up of powders, flavorings and numbers!

2. Eat Local Produce

Try and source your food from locally grown suppliers. Almost all cities and suburbs have a local farmers market somewhere. Find it and support your local manufactures and farmers. Buying your fruit, vegetables and meats from the supermarket is a great convenience but it comes at the cost of truly fresh and seasonal eating.

3. Eat More Fruit and Vegetables

photo credit: .craig

We all know that we need to be eating more fruit and vegetables. Fruit and vegetables should be making up one third of the food you eat each day and it’s also important to be eating a variety. The recommended daily intake is 5 portions of fruit and vegetables. Also remember that fruit and vegetables are very low in fat.

If you are a vegetarian then the next two rules might not apply to you. If this is the case then you need to make sure you are getting enough nutrients in your diet. Along with your fruit and vegetables try to include nuts, legumes, whole grains, seeds, dairy foods and eggs (assuming you are not vegan). Tofu and other soybean products are also a great source of protein in a vegetarian diet.

4. Eat Fresh Lean Meat

Choose to eat meat that is a lean cut which will keep saturated fats to a minimum and allow you to get the maximum amount of protein, minerals and vitamins available from the meat. You should also try to source meat that is produced free of antibiotics and hormones, in other words free range or organic.

5. Eat Oily Fish

Over the last few years there has been a massive push to increase the amount of omega 3 fatty acids in our diet. Oily fish are a great source of these omega 3 fats and they are essential to our diet. Great fish sources are salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies and sardines. Other oily fish such as tuna also contain omega 3 fats but in somewhat lesser amounts.

I stumbled across this early in the new year and I have meant to post about it for a while now. Eartha from Trying Fitness has developed a list of 100 Motivational/Inspirational Quotes focused around fitness.

You may have already checked this out earlier in the year but I think it’s worth going over again and having a second look. You might have missed a great quote that will inspire you to push that little harder to get a flat stomach or lose those few extra pounds. It might also be a good idea to go and pick out and some new quotes to help you achieve your fitness goals as we enter into the second quarter of 2009.

The download link is below or you can click on the cover picture to view/download the e-book. Happy quoting!

100 Motivational Quotes (PDF)

• Force yourself to wake every day at the same time so that you are more productive, structured, and habitual.
• Go to bed when your are tired. It should only take you around 5-10 minutes to fall asleep, any longer and you’re wasting your time. You don’t always need the same amount of sleep every night, listen to your body and mind. Forcing yourself to get up at the same time every day should make your more tired at night and regulate the time you fall asleep anyway.

• Avoid napping during the day. Naps or siestas can give you an energy boost but if you are having trouble sleeping at night they will generally make it harder to fall asleep.

• Get a sleep mask if you have any sort of light entering in your bedroom.
• Eat your meals at the same time every day and don’t eat any substantial meal/food before bed. Eating your meals at the same time regulates melatonin, ghrelin, leptin, and other hormones that affect your sleep cycle.
• Lack of sleep has a bad effect on the “appetite control” hormone leptin. Leptin levels tell the brain when the body does or doesn’t need more food. Sleep deprivation results in a triggering of hormones of the nervous system, which can lower leptin levels. These low levels of leptin have been associated with obesity.
• Minimize your caffeine consumption throughout the day and try not to have any from the afternoon onwards.
• Minimize your alcohol intake because too much will cause you to have disrupted sleep and can reduce the amount of deep sleep you get.
• Although some experts don’t advocate exercising in the hours before bed (because of the build up of adrenaline and the time it takes for the body to return to normal), recent research has found that it can improve your sleep or at the very least leave it no worse than without the exercise. A lot of people report that it’s a good way to relieve stress and relax before bed.
• The last piece of advice is one of my favorites comes from Tim Ferriss. He recommends that you do not read non-fiction prior to bed, because it encourages projection into the future and planning. Read fiction that engages the imagination and demands present-state attention.

For more tips on how to achieve improved relaxation and sleeping habits check out these resources:

Tim Ferriss - Relax Like A Pro
Zen Habits - Benefits of Rising Early
Steve Pavlina - How to Become an Early Riser