How to get rid of skinny-fat forever

Bill Hartman’s prescription to end the paradox of being both skinny AND fat

Q: Despite a regular gym routine, I can’t seem to melt flab or build muscle. What’s the deal? -Chris H., Los Angeles

A: Before I let you complain about being “skinny fat,” I’m going to ask you a few questions:

• Are you hitting the gym a few times a week? Every week?
• Are you eating 4-6 nutrient-dense meals per day?
• Are you eating at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day?
• Are you getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night?

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, go bug someone who cares or get your ass in the gym, slam some nutrition down your gullet, and get some quality sleep. If that doesn’t work after a consistent 12 weeks of training, then let’s talk.

Now if you answered, “yes” to all the above questions, look great in clothes, but appear to be wearing your grandfather’s skin when you’re having “Nakey Time,” then answer the following questions:

• Do you hit the gym nearly every day?
• Are you constantly feeling overwhelmed or stressed out?
• Do you lie awake at night worrying about the next day, the next week, or the next month?
• Do you find that whenever you’re around someone with a cold, you’re the first guy to get sick too?
• Has that nice waitress you met at Hooters recently dumped you, or have you gone through a divorce?

If you answered “yes” to ANY of the above questions, I’m here to help.

I’ll start by disagreeing with good ol’ Tom Jefferson (I can call him Tom because he’s a distant relative … an uncle actually) when he said, “all men are created equal”.

Some of us can handle the day-to-day challenges of life and bang away at heavy weights in the gym and make solid, regular gains in muscle and fat loss. Then, there are those of us who toil and struggle to gain any appreciable muscle, or battle to lose even miniscule amounts of body fat. What gives?

The difference is in your body’s ability to deal with stress, and the quantity of hormones you produce when training. For another approach to goign from skinny-fat to fit, see Lou Schuler’s The Cure for Skinny-Fat.)

Obviously, the goal of your gym time and eating plan is to create a muscle-building environment rather than a muscle-wasting environment. To gain some meat, you need higher levels of testosterone, which is your primary muscle-building hormone. You also want lower levels of its evil twin, cortisol, your muscle-wasting hormone.

“Skinny fat” guys typically produce more cortisol in response to the stress of working out AND any other kind of stress—bills, kids, your dog died—and not enough testosterone. Even if your testosterone levels are higher than those of the only male rhino in a zoo full of in-heat female rhinos, higher levels of cortisol will block the muscle building power of testosterone. That’s because cortisol inhibits the effects of growth hormone (GH) and its conversion in the body to a hormone that builds muscle. And from a fat loss standpoint, cortisol inhibits the production of a fat burning or “fast metabolism” hormone.

So if you haven’t figured it out by now, controlling your cortisol levels will be the key to developing a leaner more muscular physique if you’re in the “skinny fat” crowd.

Here’s your plan to control cortisol and get buff:

Chill-out, rest, and sleep
Anxiety and skinny fat go hand in hand. So you’ve got to get your stress levels under control. Do this: Quit worrying so much. Get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Take a nap or two during the week. All of those things will keep cortisol at bay.

Train smart.
Remember that workouts are stressful, and that your “skinny fat” body will react by producing more cortisol than average. To fight this, reduce the total number of workouts you do per week, but make them count. Less time at the gym = more muscles. Easy, right?

When you do hit the gym, here’s how to spend your time. Split your workouts into two parts, upper body and lower body, and use a weekly schedule similar to the following:

A re you skinny, but still have muffin top? If so, throw away the scale and hit the weight room! Thin people often carry the most dangerous kind of fat. You don’t have to be a size 20 to be obese. The real skinny fat problem is having not enough muscle and too much fat. Symptoms include a large belly, flabby arms, and a chronic fear of gaining weight. But what is skinny fat anyway?

What Does Skinny Fat Mean?

Most people have never heard the word “skinny fat” or don’t know what it means. There’s a big difference between being thin and being healthy. According to researchers, one in four skinny people are metabolically obese. In order words, they carry too much fat and little muscle because of excessive cardio, lack of sleep, and poor nutrition.

So, what does a skinny fat person look like? This term describes a person who may appear thin but is unhealthy. A skinny fat individual will have a slim body, flabby arms, and chicken legs. He may also have belly fat and cellulite. Fat is usually accumulated around his liver, pancreas, and intestines. This condition is known as visceral fat. Although it’s not visible, it increases your risk of heart disease, insulin resistance, diabetes, and early death.

One in four skinny people are “metabolically obese.”

Some skinny fat people neglect their health because they assume they are well due to their appearance. Others are struggling to be skinny instead of fit, so they starve themselves and do tons of cardio each day. The skinny fat problem strikes women most since they’re often afraid to gain weight. As a result, they follow extreme diets and avoid lifting weights.

However, men can be skinny fat too. This problem is quite common among ectomorphs. Many guys put too much emphasis on cardio and skip the weights. Some claim that strength training is unhealthy and unnatural, so they rely solely on cardio. Others believe that cardio is the key to building a six pack.

Want to know the truth? A low calorie diet and excessive cardio won’t help you get ripped abs. Instead, you’ll get skinny fat.

How to Get Rid of the Skinny Fat Look

This skinny-fat look is common among those who never step into a gym for any kind of weight training. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule – some people are naturally skinny. Either way, it’s possible to get rid of the skinny fat look and build lean muscle. The key is to combine strength training with proper nutrition and rest.

You’ll never get rid of belly fat and man boobs by spending hours on the treadmill. A low calorie diet and excessive cardio won’t help you build a six pack. The same goes for women – you won’t lose flabby arms and build a perfect butt by starving yourself and doing cardio. To lose the skinny fat look, stop focusing on your weight and start pumping iron!

To lose the skinny fat look, stop focusing on your weight and start pumping iron!

Stop Running So Damn Much

Cardio doesn’t make a body. Running, climbing stairs, and cycling are popular mainly because they burn calories. However, they also cause muscle loss when done in excess. To get rid of the skinny fat look, your workout routine should be 80% strength training and 20% everything else.

Weight loss is often the result of making better nutritional choices. If you’re skinny fat and have a big belly, focus on your diet instead of prioritizing cardio. At this point, you need to build muscle. Doing too much cardio will turn you into a ghastly, bony person with no muscle tone.

Start Pumping Iron

Make strength training a priority. The barbell should be your best friend. Don’t seek refuge in fancy gym machines that make your work easier. Free weights stimulate muscle growth, increase your balance, and strengthen your core better than any machine. This applies to both men and women. Strength training will raise your metabolism and increase muscle mass, helping you achieve a balanced physique.

Use Compound Movements

More than 80% of your strength training efforts should go towards compound exercises, such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, push-ups, and pull-ups. These movements engage several muscles at once, giving you a strong foundation. In general, skinny fat people have thin arms, narrow shoulders, and flat butt. By doing compound and bodyweight exercises, they can fix these flaws.

To get rid of sagging arms, do isolation exercises. Throw in a few curls before ending your workout. Thick grip dumbbell hammer curls, thick grip cheat curls, and barbell curls are a great choice. Aim for three to four exercises for large muscle groups, and two or three exercises for smaller muscles like your biceps and triceps.

Watch Your Diet

Just because you’re skinny fat it doesn’t mean you can eat anything you want. That’s dumb! Stop sabotaging your progress with poor nutrition. Eating too much means getting even fatter. Your diet should include real foods with high nutritional value. This includes lean meat, fatty fish, green leafy vegetables, whole rice, nuts, seeds, and eggs.

Eliminate refined sugar and junk food from your diet. Steer clear of soft drinks, white rice and pasta, white bread, frozen meals, and high-sugar fruit. Learn to cycle your carbohydrates around your goals and workout routine. When it comes to food, focus on quality, not quantity. Stop drinking calories and choose water, tea, or coffee instead of soda.

Eat More Protein

Eat plenty of protein to support muscle growth and repair. All of your meals should include a source of protein along with veggies. Fill your plate with protein-dense foods, such as turkey, chicken, beef, salmon, tuna, egg whites, cottage cheese, and leafy greens. Have a protein shake before and after working out. If you must snack, go with raw veggies or whey protein.

Anyone can use these skinny fat workout and diet tips to build lean muscle. Make sure you get plenty of rest to allow your muscles to recover. Avoid stressful situations and don’t overtrain. Stress can cause a lot of problems, from belly fat to migraines, fatigue, and poor performance. Stop eating and drinking like a college kid, train hard, and set realistic goals.

Don’t choose between cutting weight or bulking up. Give culking a try.

Starting out a brand new workout plan and diet to change the way your body looks can be tough, especially if you’re not on either end of the spectrum of what’s considered to be conventionally under or overweight. You don’t know whether to start by bulking up or losing the extra weight you have; you’re stuck in between.

Some people call that middle ground “skinny-fat.” That’s not an inaccurate descriptor, technically — but what the term is really referencing is just the standard body type of an everyday, average guy. If you don’t eat particularly healthy, but you’re not binging, and if you don’t have a dedicated training routine, but you’re not totally sedentary, it’s not surprising that your body type doesn’t fall into either extreme. Genetics obviously play some role here, but diet and exercise have a big part in how you look, too.

So, how do you go about building muscle when you’re starting point is somewhere in the middle? What’s your strategy?

Conventional wisdom says you have to choose: Either cut the fat and get even skinnier, or build muscle that remains buried under layers of fat. Bulk and then cut, or cut and then bulk.

But for the “skinny-fat” guy who’s ready to commit to a serious lifting and diet overhaul, it’s possible to do both simultaneously. Alan Aragon, my coauthor on The Lean Muscle Diet, calls it “culking.” The reason is simple: The guy stuck in the middle ground is a target-rich environment in both directions. “He’s nowhere near his genetic limits for fat loss or muscle gains,” Aragon says. “He has the fat to lose as well as the muscle to gain.”

Aragon believes it’s possible to shed three to five pounds of fat a month while gaining a pound or two of muscle. Here’s how to pull it off.

The Guide to Culking

Step 1: Train hard

When I see inexperienced, underdeveloped guys in the gym, they typically follow one of these two strategies:

• Timid circuit routines, using the gym’s machines in whatever order they’re arranged

• Bizarro World bodybuilding routines, with more time spent on biceps curls than on all lower-body exercises combined

That’s anecdotal, of course. But I’ve been working out in commercial or corporate gyms since 1980, so I’ve got a lot of anecdotes. What I’ve rarely seen a novice lifter do is focus on primary movement patterns — squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, pullups and chinups. These exercises use the most muscle and develop the most total-body strength.

More important, primary movement patterns improve your body from the inside out, strengthening bones and thickening connective tissues as muscle mass increases. Those structural fortifications are the key to substantial, impressive, and sustainable muscle growth.

Add these exercises to your training plan, but don’t just do a few squats and call it a day. The best way to initiate hypertrophy, the cellular process responsible for muscle growth, is by performing two or three sets of an exercise for six to 12 repetitions, with about 30 to 60 seconds’ rest between sets. Construct your routine using these principles to get the most out of your time in the gym.

Step 2: Eat plenty

It’s tempting to cut calories when you want to lose fat. But food is your ally when you culk, for three good reasons:

1. Food gives you energy to train hard, and to recover from your workouts.

2. Protein is needed to build new muscle tissue.

3. Eating speeds up your metabolism more than not eating.

You can’t underestimate the power of number 3. Digesting the food you eat accounts for 10 percent of your daily metabolism. With a higher-protein diet (up to 1 gram of protein per pound of your target body weight), that number should jump up higher than 10 percent. Moreover, the combination of eating and training increases your energy flux, a measure of calories going in and out. The more muscle you have, the harder you train, and the more you eat, the higher your energy flux.

But if you cut calories, you don’t just reduce the amount of energy coming in; you reduce the amount you burn through digestion and exercise. It’s a recipe for that middling physique you’re working to change.

So how many calories is “plenty”? Here’s a simplified version of the plan Aragon explains in detail in The Lean Muscle Diet:

Let’s say your target body weight is 175 pounds, and that you plan to work out hard for three hours a week. We’re going to multiply that target weight by the sum of two multipliers: 12 (indicating a guy with a relatively fast metabolism) and 3 (for three hours of training). 175 x 15 = 2625. That’s how many calories you’ll try to eat each day.

The number may be more or less than you’re eating now. Either way, there’s a lot of it, which you’ll need for a successful culk.

Step 3: Be consistent

The numbers I threw out are an abstraction, since they don’t tell you what to eat, or when. “Getting wrapped up in the numbers is less important than staying consistent with the program,” Aragon says. “These targets are guidelines, not gospel.”

What doesn’t work is what you’ve already done: random meals at random times, with random workout programs you started but never used long enough to see results. That lack of design is how you got stuck in the middle. A successful culk requires that you give yourself some basic rules to follow:

1. Choose a serious strength-training program and stick with it. Muscle is your best weapon against fat, but you can’t use what you haven’t yet built.

2. Eat the same number of meals each day, at the same times. It doesn’t matter how many you have or when you have them, only that you establish a pattern and stick with it, giving your muscles a consistent amount of protein and your body a consistent amount of fuel.

3. Give yourself some slack: a small daily indulgence, or a couple of bigger ones each week. As long as 80 to 90 percent of your total calories come from whole or minimally processed foods — what you think of as “healthy” choices — you can get away with having a little fun with the balance.

It’s easy to be consistent when you’re getting fast, visually satisfying results. But it’s much harder to stick with the program when the results slow down. That’s when you begin to understand why so few people pull off a successful culk: they quit too soon.

“Remember that progress is progress, and you’re looking at the long haul,” Aragon advises. Over time, every pound of muscle you add gives you a bigger hammer to smash whatever fat remains. The farther you get from the middle, and the closer you’ll get to your goals, and the more sense it all makes.

Lou Schuler is an award-winning journalist and the author, with Alan Aragon, of The Lean Muscle Diet.

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Publisher Description

Are You Ready to Get Rid of those UGLY LOVE HANDLES and Lose that NASTY LOOKING GUT Once and For All?

Well the Good News is…Getting Rid of Belly Fat is Much SIMPLER THAN YOU THINK!

With the Right Plan and Attitude, You Can Actually DROP YOUR BELLY FAT 4 to 9 lbs WITHIN A WEEK!

Belly fat is actually the MOST DANGEROUS type of fat!

According to Robert Eckel, MD, (President of the American Heart Association), a big waistline puts you at increased risk for many health problems like DIABETES,HEART DISEASE, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, and STROKE.

And if you think that belly fat is just an issue for people who are overweight, THINK AGAIN — even people who are at a healthy weight and exercise regularly can have it.

Skinny people can have unhealthy “hidden” belly fat that may be folded deep inside the belly around the stomach organs, visible only by CT or MRI imaging.

This fat puts people at the same health risks as someone with more obvious big girth, researchers say.

In the ‘NEW BOOK’ The Flat Belly Miracle – How to Lose Belly Fat Fast and Get Your Sexy Back Forever…you’ll learn:

*Which exercises will turn your body into a fat burning machine, all day and all night!
*How to calculate the amount of calories you need to not only lose belly fat but maintain your loss once you reach your weight loss goals
*How to use vitamins, herbs and supplements to help you lose belly fat at a quicker rate
*Tips and tricks on how to stay motivated from day one to the day your goal becomes reality!
*What to do to end the cycle of cravings that can make your diet much harder than it has to be
*How to eat so you feel energetic and alive every day!
*How to burn more belly fat by working out LESS!
*How to shed unwanted fat by eating foods you love, INCLUDING CARBS!
*What foods to eat that give you glowing, radiant skin
*And so much more!

If you successfully complete and act on “The Flat Belly Miracle – How to Lose Belly Fat Fast and Get Your Sexy Back Forever, you will…

*Lose 4–9 pounds Within a Week
* Get rid of stubborn body fat, including belly fat
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*Naturally crave healthy foods so you never have to diet again
*Learn to live a healthier lifestyle of detoxing and healthy eating
*Look slimmer, healthier, and sexier than you have in years!

So If You’re Looking for the One and Only Way to Lose Belly Fat; DON’T LOOK ANY FURTHER!

This book is a collection of some of the BEST METHODS used today for belly fat and weight loss.

This guide will assist you with answers to many of the questions you’ve had about losing belly fat, and even some you didn’t know you had!

Just FOLLOW the recommendations and guidelines in this guide and you’ll be the one others look at and think, “I wish I had their abs!”

“The Flat Belly Miracle – How to Lose Belly Fat Fast and Get Your Sexy Back Forever”

When it comes to banishing rodents, the best defense is a good offense.

Fall and winter are prime time for rodents trying to make their way into warm, cozy homes, but it’s never too early to start mouse-proofing, according to Cindy Mannes, a spokeswoman for the National Pest Management Association.

Not only can they chew through walls and boxes in your pantry, but mice can wreak serious havoc on your home. Particularly, they can gnaw on wires, which can lead to house fires. “And they carry a slew of illnesses and bacteria,” Mannes warns. “A build-up of their droppings can worsen allergy and asthma situations, too.”

What do mouse droppings look like?

Mouse droppings resemble dark grains of rice, about a quarter inch long. Rat droppings look a little wider and longer — about half an inch in length.

Trails of little poop pellets are certainly a major sign that you have mice, but the best evidence might not always be scattered along your countertops. Another tip off could be boxes in your pantry have been chewed through. “You may see debris on your shelf or gnaw marks on boxes or bags of food,” says Mannes.

If you see one mouse, does that mean there’s more?

Sorry to break the news: If you see one mouse, you almost definitely have more than one. “They’re looking for the same things that humans are looking for in the winter — food, water, and shelter,” says Mannes. “They’ve gotten so good at living with humans. When you get one, others will find their way in. Plus, they multiply very quickly.”

What home remedy can you use to get rid of mice?

We’ve seen all sorts of DIY repellent ideas (including peppermint sprays, dryer sheet stuffings, and cotton balls soaked in oil and cayenne pepper), but you may want to skip the home remedies. “There’s no science or evidence behind any of these methods,” says Mannes. “And again, mice are so used to living with humans, those smells associated with us are not usually repellent to mice.”

Okay, so how do you get rid of mice?

Here’s what you need to do to eliminate these pesky little critters — as fast and as painless as possible.

1. Find their entry point.

Before you put down any traps or bait, do a little detective work. “Figure out where they’re coming from because putting traps randomly all over your basement floor isn’t going to do you any good,” Mannes says. Determine where they’re living and building nests. Once you’ve found those places, set your traps around those general areas. Of course, professional exterminators will be able to determine exactly where to put them and how many you’ll need.

2. Set store-bought traps.

“The tried-and-true mousetrap is still very effective,” says Mannes, who adds that a little dab of peanut butter on each spring-loaded trap is all you need. Want something a little, um, less out in the open? Try the d-Con Discreet No View, No Touch mousetrap, which conceals the little guy so you can just toss the whole thing ($10 for 2, amazon.com).

You can also go the more humane route with a reusable trap ($13, amazon.com) that doesn’t use any glue or poison, so you can release the critter.

3. Use caulk and steel wool to seal up the house.

Once you handle the infestation inside, you’ll want to make sure no additional mice can find their way in. Mice are able to fit through openings the size of a dime. And rats? Well, they can fit through something the size of a quarter — incredible! Even if a hole doesn’t start out that large, the rodents can gnaw their way to make the opening larger.

The good news: “They can’t eat through caulk and steel wool,” says Mannes. “Pay really close attention to where pipes enter the house and along basement foundations. Be sure to replace weather stripping, and make sure you’ve screened the vents and the openings of your chimneys.”

The profile of your face is very much affected by the shape of your nose. A large or pronounced nose can be valued as a sign of beauty and distinction. In fact, the lauded and legendary beauty Cleopatra had a nose that was so long and large that people are still talking about it.

But some people see having a prominent nose as an unwanted feature. If you don’t like the way your nose looks, you might be tempted by home remedies and exercises that claim to narrow, streamline, and shorten your nose. Keep reading to find out what you can actually do to make your nose look smaller.

There are tons of internet rumors about making your nose smaller. Some websites suggest that putting ice on your nose repeatedly will make it shrink. It won’t.

Some say that applying a paste of garlic extract, toothpaste, apple cider vinegar, ginger powder, or other anti-inflammatory ingredients will get rid of a bump in your nose. This won’t work, either.

There are people who swear that doing certain facial exercises and holding certain expressions can make your nose look smaller. But it’s collagen that gives your face its shape, and your nose is made of cartilage — not muscle or fat. Toning or strengthening certain face muscles won’t make a visible difference in how large your nose appears to be.

There are even DIY injection products and facial molds that you can use to try reshaping the bones in your nose. Many of these products are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Evidence to suggest that any of these remedies work is severely lacking.

Using an unproven home remedy to actually make your nose smaller is unlikely to work. But there are makeup strategies that you can try to make your nose appear smaller, such as nose contouring. Plenty of YouTube tutorial videos explore methods of nose contouring. The basic idea is simple:

1. Using bronzer
   that’s two shades darker than your skin tone, outline your nose on both sides.
2. Use a matte
   highlighter to trace the narrow outline of your nose and bring attention to it.
3. Use a beauty
   blender to play up the shadows and highlights of this effect. It may take some
   practice, but many people love the result of this makeup technique.

You may also consider what’s called a nonsurgical rhinoplasty. This is a procedure that injects a temporary filler, such as Juvederm or Restylane, into the structure of your nose. These fillers will temporarily even out bumps, divots, or other asymmetries in your nose. The effect can last for up to six months.

If you’re considering a surgical intervention to make your nose smaller, you may have heard of a method called a rhinoplasty. A cosmetic surgeon will consult with you about the shape you’d like your nose to have. Then you’ll be put under general anesthesia while your surgeon removes cartilage and tissue to reconstruct your nose.

Nose reshaping surgeries are more common than you might think. More than 200,000 of these surgeries are performed in the United States every year. It’s the third most popular kind of cosmetic surgery nationwide, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. These surgeries are not typically covered by insurance.

If you aren’t happy with the shape of your nose, there are plenty of options to consider. Noninvasive remedies, such as contouring techniques or fillers, are reversible ways to experiment with the way your nose looks.

The size of your nose is also sometimes dependent on outside health factors, such as weight gain, pregnancy, melanoma, rosacea, and frequent consumption of alcohol. Speak with your doctor if your nose shape seems to be changing drastically.

After you complete a diet and reach your goal weight, you may want to maintain that weight long-term. Keep in mind that weight maintenance requires a strategy that is different from active weight loss. You still need to follow a balanced diet, exercise and follow other modified behaviors. If you want to know how to stay slim using natural remedies, you should spend time reading this interesting article.

List Of Simple Ways On How To Stay Slim And Healthy

There are a lot of tips that can help you maintain your healthy weight at the comfort of your own home. And, in this article, Healthy Guide will show you some of these best tips. Actually, all of these tips also help with your weight loss. So, if you want to lose some extra pounds naturally, you should also keep both of your eyes on this article.

1. Weigh Yourself Daily

This should be the first way on how to stay slim forever that we want to mention in this interesting article. Weighing yourself daily can help you stay slim. According to a study, people who got on the scale regularly lost twice as much weight as people who weighed themselves less frequently. Also, monitoring the weight keeps prevent weight denial.

2. Reward Yourself

Whenever you establish a healthy routine, it is important for you to establish a reward system. A simple way to help you stick to a low-calorie diet is to reward yourself with something you like every day. At the end of every day, you can reward yourself with your favorite food that contains 200 calories. But keep in mind that you only reward yourself if you deserve it.

3. Eat Breakfast

According to a study, people who often skipped breakfast had higher risks of developing obesity. Breakfast should be the most important meal of your day. This is because having a nutritious breakfast jumpstarts the metabolism and simultaneously prevents you from overeating throughout the day. For the best results, you should opt for a breakfast dish that has a healthy balance of fiber and protein, like eggs with whole-wheat toast and fruits.

4. Drink Water

About 60% of your body is water, so it is considered as a vital part in your metabolic process. According to a study carried out with 173 overweight women, people who drank 1 liter of water daily lost 5 extra pounds over the period of a year. According to another study, people who drink two glasses of water before eating any meal lost 30% more body fat over3 months.

5. Choose Whole Grains

Choosing whole grains can play a vital role in keeping you slim. A study showed that obese people who included whole grains in their diet plan lost more fat than people who did not. This is because the healthy dose of fiber found in whole grains aids to slow down the digestion, and simultaneously keep you full for longer. Just remember to be careful with the labels. True whole grain products will include whole grains first on the list of their ingredients.

6. Have 6-8 Hours Of Night Sleep

Having a good night sleep offers many health benefits, including maintaining healthy body weight. According to a study, people who slept for more than 8 hours or fewer than 6 hours every night were heavier than those who had 6-8 hours of night sleep. Studies found that lack of sleep can lower willpower, increase appetite, and increase cravings for high-calorie foods.

7. Manage Stress

When you are looking for simple ways on how to stay slim as you age, you should try to manage stress as soon as possible. A study found that daily stress can cause weight gain. When you are stressed out, the body will release cortisol, which is a hormone promoting belly fat storage. If you often face stress in your personal life, you should try doing stress-reducing activities. Take a deep breath, go for a jog, join a yoga class or do everything you like whenever you have stress.

8. Take The Stairs

We all know that formal exercise is very important for maintaining a healthy weight. However, according to a study about metabolism and weight loss [1] , simple activities such as taking the stairs can also help you stay slim. Studies found that people who moved more in an unconscious manner throughout the day could maintain their weight easier than those who had sedentary life even though both groups had the same amount of exercising.

9. Take Snack Breaks

Planning good snacks can actually keep you skinny. A recent study found that consuming high-protein and low-sugar snacks could promote weight loss. Eating healthy snacks keeps your blood-sugar balanced, prevents cravings as well as body fat storage. A great food choice for you is nuts. The balance of fiber, protein, and healthy fats can keep you satisfied between meals.

10. Eat A Boring Diet

Researchers discovered that people who consumed cheese and macaroni every day got fewer calories than those who consumed the cheese-covered noodles once a week. This is because when you eat new foods, you may want to consume more; therefore, by eating a boring diet, you may consume less. The only thing you need to do is to pick something healthy and eat it every day.

If you’re looking for the best exercises to lose thigh fat fast and you come to the right place.

It can be incredibly frustrating trying to get rid of your thigh fat, but the exercises you will find below will help you get rid of them.

Many so-called experts out there will tell you spot reduction is a total myth and doesn’t work. They’re not 100% wrong but they’re not all right too.

The keys to getting rid of your thigh fat are to lose fat all over your body while using the exercises below to tone and slim down your thighs.

Not only do you need to lose weight but you also need to lower your body fat percentage to slim down your thighs.

Women naturally tend to hold more fat in their thighs than other places on their body. This also makes it the most stubborn and the last place they lose it.

Hormones and genetics can give women the pear-shaped body making it frustrating to get rid of their hip and thigh fat.

The good news is you can overcome your genetics and hormones despite what anybody says.

You’ll still be able to lose weight in your legs even though nothing is currently working for you.

I’m sure you’ll agree it can be incredibly frustrating wanting to get rid of your thigh fat without much to show for.

You can get rid of your thigh fat despite genetics and hormones so you can fit into your skinny jeans.

I’ll show you the 10 best exercises to lose thigh fat fast so you can get quick results now.

There are 49 genes that determine abdominal fat. Be the boss of yours

If you’re like many fit women, you’ve worked your butt off (or some other fill-in-the-blank trouble spots), but your belly fat seems to stick around no matter how well you eat or how hard you sweat. It’s incredibly frustrating, so what’s the deal? Genetics is a big factor: Studies of twins and families show that the amount of ab fat each person carries is inherited-roughly 30 to 70 percent of the total variation in waist size from person to person is attributable to genetics-and that apple-shaped physiques are more likely to be passed down than other body types.

“You can inherit abdominal-fat-risk gene variations from your mother or your father or from both,” says epidemiology professor Lu Qi, M.D., Ph.D., the director of the Tulane University Obesity Research Center. Inheriting these genes from one parent elevates your odds of living with belly bulge, but if you get socked with a lot of genes from both sides, you may be at an even greater risk for belly pudge that won’t easily budge. (Did you know you can do an at-home DNA test to find out if you have the gene?)

More than a couple of genes affect abdominal fat. There are 49 to be exact, according to a recent study in the journal Nature. Nineteen of these genes have a stronger effect in women, which suggests that genes may be influenced by hormones, says Kari North, Ph.D., a professor of epidemi­ology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Carolina Center for Genome Studies. One major player in the belly ­fat game is cortisol, which you most likely know as the hormone triggered by stress.

“Chronic exposure to cortisol can result in a complete shift in body shape, [from hourglass or similar to] around middle and thin arms and legs, even if you’re not genetically predisposed to that physique,” says Shawn Talbott, Ph.D., the author of The Cortisol Connection. Here’s why: When you’re under stress your body cranks out cortisol, which springs fat from fat stores and dumps it into the bloodstream to give the liver and other organs energy for the fight-or-flight reaction. Any fat that isn’t used for energy gets redeposited in fat stores, primarily in the abdomen.

Whether you have an apple shape because you were born with it or because stress has messed with your waistline, it may trigger unhealthy eating habits that can make it even tougher to shed ab. Researchers at Drexel University found that in women, an increase in the percentage of body fat stored in the abdomen was linked to a 53 percent increase in the likelihood of developing out­ of ­control bingeing over a two­ year period, whereas total body fat was not associated with disordered eating. Researchers think that high percentages of ab fat may interfere with hunger and satiety messages sent to the brain, which can lead to overindulging.

As much as that vicious cycle makes it sound as if get­ ting rid of ab fat is a lost cause, it’s not and there’s hope. You just have to be more strategic about how you attack the prob­lem than the woman with the at abs on the treadmill next to you who’s probably genetically blessed. Working out will reduce stress (which in turn decreases cortisol) and improve cortisol sensitivity, meaning you secrete less cortisol whenever you are anxious and that your level of the hormone returns to normal more quickly, Talbott says. And a 30-­year study on pairs of twins published in the International Journal of Obesity found that physically active subjects (who exercised 30 minutes a day) had a waist circumference that was 3.3 inches smaller than their inactive twins, indicating that exercise can help mitigate genetic influences.

“Those at high genetic risk for abdomi­nal fat can still shed it through exercise; it may just be a more challenging and lengthier pro­cess than it is for someone with less genetic risk,” says Yann Klimentidis, Ph.D., an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Arizona’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, who has conducted research on the subject. Many experts agree, saying that chang­ing your routine and going harder may be the key to finally losing your pooch. Here are two proven approaches to doing just that; work them both into your week to double­team ab flab and make a fat­belly breakthrough.

High-intensity interval training

HIIT works to trim you in two ways: It specifically helps to burn off the flab covering your abs, and when it includes the right strength moves, it can simultan­eously firm the muscles them­ selves. The point is to do a lot of reps at a high intensity (at about 80 percent of your maximum effort) and to go heavy on ab-specific exercises.

“Circuits of moves like seated band rows paired with reverse plank holds, plank shoulder taps paired with side plank holds, and burpees paired with high plank holds are effective for losing abdominal fat,” says Cassandra Forsythe, Ph.D., R.D.N., the author of The New Rules of Lifting for Women. Do each pair of moves for 20 seconds total (10 seconds per move), taking a 10-second break between sets, and then repeat the whole circuit eight to 10 times. (Or try our HIIT-filled 30-day bodyweight challenge to get started.) If you’re doing moves with weights, “they should be heavy, but not so heavy that you can’t lift them 12 to 15 times at a pretty fast pace,” Forsythe says.

Cinching core work

To strengthen and cinch in your middle, train your core, not just your abs, every other day. For a quick 360-degree blitz, try doing the Pilates “hundred” combined with the Ab Series of 5 (single-leg stretch, double- leg stretch, single-straight-leg stretch, double-straight-leg stretch, and criss-cross) in quick succession without stop- ping, suggests Pilates instructor Kit Rich, the creator of Fit by Kit with Lucy Activewear. (Try videos for these and other Pilates ab classics.)

“This series works every core muscle, including the deep, notoriously hard-to-reach transverse abdominis,” Rich says. Or rather than stick with just Pilates, mix it up with other disciplines. Forsythe suggests four types of core workouts: core endurance, like planks and balance exercises that you hold for 20 to 60 seconds; core strength, including weighted Russian twists and leg raises; core power, such as medicine ball slams

and wall throws; and complete core, including dead lifts and Supermans, which get the small spinal erector muscles in on the action. Incorporate two types of core exercises every time you work out, and make sure to hit all four categories each week. “This ab regimen assures that you work your core from every angle and position,” Forsythe says. Bye-bye, Spanx!