Belly fat? Hit the treadmill, not the weights

New research finds that your best bet for trimming belly fat is vigorous aerobic activity, such as jogging or brisk walking, rather than lifting weights.

 

"If you are overweight or mildly obese and want to lose fat -- belly fat, visceral fat, liver fat -- vigorous aerobic training was better than resistance training," said researcher Cris Slentz, an exercise physiologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. The study, announced last week, appears in the American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Participants in the eight-month study were assigned to one of three groups. One group walked on a treadmill on an incline for 12 miles (19 km) at 80 percent of their maximum heart rate each week; another group lifted weights, doing three sets of eight to 12 repetitions, three times a week. A third group did both workouts.

The focus on the study was on visceral fat, or "inside fat" located deep within the body around the stomach as opposed to subcutaneous fat (aka "muffin top" fat), which lies directly under the skin. Although any kind of extra padding around your waistline is considered unhealthy, too much subcutaneous fat is much more dangerous, researchers said.

Slentz stated the aerobic training group was the most successful in reducing their visceral fat, and the reason behind that is simple: intense aerobic training burns up more calories.

Another research-backed way to trim your waistline? A new study published last week suggests that a diet high in protein and dairy is an effective way to trim fat -- specifically, belly fat. That study, funded in part by the Dairy Farmers of Canada and published in the September issue of The Journal of Nutrition, compared three groups of overweight, premenopausal women who were put on different diets: low, medium and high amounts of dairy, coupled with high or low amounts of proteins and carbohydrates.

Ref: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/photos/belly-fat-hit-the-treadmill-not-the-weights-slideshow/

11 habits that send diet plans awry

Seoul (The Korea Herald/ANN) - With unusually hot weather signaling an early end to spring, many women are taking up weight loss regimes, getting ready to show off slender figures in summer.

According to business group CJ, the women's weight-loss market is worth around 200 billion won (US$175 million) a year.
However, many fail in their attempts to shed a few kilograms.
Here are 11 reasons suggested by Fox News and other news outlets as to why people stumble on their way to a slimmer figure.

1. You eat the wrong food: Many people rely on cereal bars or protein shakes and fasting. In the long run, this rarely works because the foods don't satisfy your stomach. Cheese sticks or non-fat yoghurt with strawberries could be good alternatives.
2. You are working out too late: Yes, you need exercise but getting a good amount of sleep is just as important. Five to six hours of sleep a day slows the metabolism and causes hormonal changes. Also, fatigue could induce you to indulge in foods. Recent research suggests that those lacking sleep tend to eat 500 calories more than those who have abundant sleep.
3. You are working out too much: Exercise is the staple way to take away your weight but it does not work magic. Diet is the most important factor. Instead of working out six days a week, halving the exercise time and using the extra hours to fill up with fresh vegetables and plan your meals could be more productive.
4. You are too obsessed with salad: Eating abundant vegetables is crucial to losing weight. However, salad often lacks carbohydrates, which could make you feel even more hungrier. Adding brown rice or beans in the salad bowl or eating a soup or sandwich is a better option.
5. You are eating high-calorie foods: By all means switch your white bread with rye, ditch your potato chips for nuts and use olive oil instead of butter. But beware: they are not low-calorie alternatives. Don't eat too much of them.
6. You are eating too early: Many dieticians advise people to refrain from eating late. But in fact, having 70 per cent of daily recommended calories before dinner and 30 per cent at dinner is fine. Just don't search for ice cream or biscuits at night.
7. You are eating alone: Having company at meal tables definitely helps one moderate the amount of food. There is evidence that this is the case for women.
8. You never eat between meals: It may be better to reduce the amount of breakfast, lunch and dinner you are having and squeeze small foods in between. Your metabolism works better when you eat every 3-4 hours.
9. You don't keep a food journal: Researchers suggests that those who keep diet journals tend to lose weight twice as effectively as those who don't keep one. Simply writing down what you have eaten can alert you to how much you are eating.
10. You don't like drinking water: Replacing sodas and juice with water could dramatically reduce your calorie intake. Those who drink two cups of water eat an average of 90 calories less than others.
11. You are skipping breakfast: Those who eat breakfast tend to maintain healthy weight. If you don't feel like cooking early in the morning, just eating a whole-food cereal could help you start your day fresh and keep healthy as well as lose weight.

Ref: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/11-habits-send-diet-plans-awry-053002797.html