Changing your diet is difficult but not impossible if you understand the dynamics behind our behavior.

Changing Your Diet Forever- Why Is Change So Hard?

Mark Twain once said that quitting smoking was the easiest thing in the world- as he had done it several hundred times himself. Unfortunately, the same applies to changing your diet and taking steps to ensure that you are eating healthy and able to attain and maintain a healthy body weight. Most people reading this can attest to the fact that most attempts at dieting and changing your eating habits result in only short term weight loss and that in time most of the weight lost is regained as you revert to your original eating patterns. The percentage that is often quoted from a very old study on the subject places dieting failure at about 95% and while the study may be somewhat antiquated, the fact remains that according to the World Health Organization figures there are over 1 billion overweight people on the planet today- more than ever before. At the same time more people are attempting to lost weight than ever before and most diet plans, supplements and products profit from the high failure rate as it creates a large number of repeat customers. So why is it so hard for us to change our eating habits and lose weight? Most of us are at least somewhat aware of what not to eat- but the change usually proves to be almost impossible, but it is indeed doable if you understand the mechanics behind our inherent struggles with change.

Changing Your Diet- Understanding The Patterns

The first key to changing your diet is an understanding of your food consumption patterns. If you foster an intimate, objective and non-judgemental understanding of your behavior in the course of time if you are patient enough you will be able to change it. Contrary to what many gurus would have you believe, simply resolving to never eat unhealthy foods again is not the answer for the majority of the population, nor does the answer lie in following every new fad diet and weight loss program that the media marketing machine try to make a part of our collective popular culture. If that were the case then everyone would be successful in their attempts at weight control and somewhat sobering, the entire weight loss industry wouldn’t need to exist after everyone was successful after following the trendy diet of the day, used the weight loss supplements being advertised or followed the in vogue exercise program featured in the magazines and infomercials.

That certainly is not the case and every bonafide expert in the field would agree with my observation over the past two decades as a professional helping people with their weight management is that the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to change your lifestyle permanently. For this to happen there must be an unrelenting commitment to a change. One that is completely divorced from the destructive and self loathing perspectives that somehow there must be some form of atonement for failures to stay on track.

It is human nature to believe that when a ‘wrong’ is committed a period of guilt is required, followed by penance of some sort. Unfortunately, this very idea of eating the wrong foods as a ‘sin’ of some sort is a reality with regards the way most people perceive their dietary slips. The individual falters, eating something that falls into the category of forbidden and goes into a downward spiral of self hatred and disgust. This self inflicted flagellation is followed by a resolve to either exercise more, diet harder or employ some extreme method to compensate for the ‘damage’ done by their indulgence. (Sound familiar?) As familiar as it sounds it remains a major obstacle to long term success.

How Guilt & Quick Fixes Make Changing Your Diet Even Harder

Physiologically speaking, there isn’t anything that you can do compensate for a slip in your diet. Nothing at all. What is done is done and any attempts to try to undo the past are simply wasted exercises in magical thinking. This way of thinking can lead to eating disorders and an overall pathological relationship with food and has little to do with attaining a healthy mind and body. Instead the slips must be looked upon as what they are; learning experiences that teach us more about ourselves as every slip holds the information necessary to help you avoid their continued recurrence.

The popular but limited idea of getting into shape for summer or for some upcoming event or vacation doesn’t permit a transition towards this way of successful thinking. There is a popular weight loss slogan that life is too short to slim fast but like so many advertising mantras it has no foundations in reality. No one ever became overweight overnight and we have to readjust to the reality that permanent change happens over the course of years, not weeks or months and that the idea of getting into shape has to be a long term day by day process rooted in taking care of yourself- not just looking great in a swimsuit. Nothing worth achieving in this life comes quickly and controlling your eating habits is no exception. It takes practice and and it takes patience.  On a personal note, while many look at my physique today and the steadfastness by which I am able to not indulge in processed foods of any kind, they overlook the fact that it took the better part of two decades to be able to get there,  and without the slips and failures I encountered along the way, I would never have learned the invaluable lessons that allow me to be where I am today.

Understanding The Dynamics Behind Learned Behavior

The other important factor is an understanding of the dynamics behind learned behavior. When you decide, for example, that you are no longer going to eat unhealthy foods, your new attitude only serves to supplement your original behavior where eating unhealthy foods were acceptable. Behavioral psychology has found what many of us in the trenches have learned through objective observation. Namely that the very habits that we seek to change resurface because they are not fully forgotten. As long as new and old ways of thinking coexist as opposing impulses they will always be in competition unless steps are taken to disarm the undesirable attitudes.

Disarming those attitudes requires a fundamental change in perception, a change that comes again with time and patience. It is only when you are able to enjoy foods that are good for you that you will be able to break the cycle. Again, it does not happen overnight but a constant diet of natural unrefined and wholesome foods would eventually lead you to the conclusion that you don’t need added salt, sugar and fatty foods to enjoy your eating experience. Over time your taste buds adapt and if you engage in a well executed exercise plan that increases your caloric and nutritional needs, you will find yourself eventually craving foods that are good for you. You new ‘comfort food’ would be foods that make you physically make you feel better and not junk foods that create only a passing mental illusion of comfort while wreaking havoc on your body.  The temptation to indulge in the foods that you wished to avoid therefore would fade into the background, a temptation that over time would simply be forgotten.

Eating Well Has To Be A Way Of Life

This is the same progression that allows me to maintain my diet all year round without any exceptions whatsoever, and the one that has worked unfailingly for innumerable individuals that I have been honored to work with over the years as a personal trainer. I know that many of you are asking yourselves how could you possibly stay on a diet of only healthy foods long enough to get to a point where the old habits are pushed aside. Taken by itself it would be a daunting task, but if you take small steps large tasks are easily accomplished. Finally on a spiritual level, you will be opening the doors to a whole new way of perceiving the world. One where limits are constantly being re-evaluated and where the seemingly impossible task of breaking free of the perpetually destructive cycle of weight loss and weight gain becomes very much a reality for you to enjoy.

NYC Personal Trainer Kevin Richardson is the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training and one of the most sought after personal trainers in New York City. Get a copy of his free weight loss ebook here.

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High intensity training can help reduce visceral abdominal fat.

High Intensity Training Reduces Visceral Abdominal Fat

There is an irony to our current health situation here in the United States and in developed countries. At a time in our history when more people than ever before are overweight the exercise and fitness industry is a multi-billion dollar giant that continues to grow even in times of economic contraction. We spend more money on exercise programs than ever before- most do little and some are so extreme that any weight loss derived cannot be realistically sustained so waistlines are not going down and staying down. The conventional approach to losing fat around the abdominal area has always been primarily aerobic exercises and most can attest that you don’t exactly get a six pack from running or being on the bike/treadmill/StairMaster/Elliptical Machine for hours and end. What has been proven time and time again by those in the trenches for reducing abdominal fat and creating the elusive toned and sculpted physique is weight training or more precisely high intensity training.

High Intensity Training As A Time Efficient Solution To Reducing Visceral Abdominal Fat & Improving Your Health

With an obesity rate of nearly 34% here in the United States and with most of those individuals suffering from the cluster of metabolic syndromes associated with a high body mass index and high visceral abdominal fat levels such as hypertension, Type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease, society as a whole need simple and long term solutions to being able to help people lower their body fat levels. The small time commitment of high intensity training is certainly a major part of the solution and more and more studies are pointing in that direction. High intensity training for a long time has been associated solely as a means toward increasing strength and muscle mass, but as more and more studies are conducted, researchers are discovering that high intensity training can not only help increase your endurance but also have a significant effect on the reduction of your body fat- specifically that layer dangerous layer right around your midsection. Read our article- The Dangers of Visceral Abdominal Fat.

Effects Of High Intensity Training On Body Composition & Visceral Abdominal Fat

A study published in Medicine & Science In Sports Exercise- the  journal of the American College of Sports Medicine found that high intensity training was far more effective than conventional prolonged low intensity training programs in reducing overall body fat and quite importantly- reducing abdominal visceral fat. It has been firmly established that high visceral abdominal fat levels not only present a cosmetic problem, but significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension.

The study examined the effects of exercise training intensity in middle aged obese women with metabolic syndrome. The women were split into three groups-

• Group One maintained their regular levels of daily activity with no exercise added and served as a control for the experiment.
• Group Two engaged in a conventional low intensity prolonged exercise program five days a week similar to recommended protocols.
• Group Three engaged in brief high intensity training sessions three days a week.

To accurately determine body composition changes, researchers used single slice computed tomography scans to observe abdominal fat and thigh muscle cross sectional areas. Body fat percentages were calculated using air displacement plethysmography.

Conclusions: High Intensity Training Is More Effective At Reducing Visceral Abdominal Fat

The findings from the study: The high intensity training group significantly reduced their total abdominal fat and subcutaneous abdominal fat whereas there were no statistically significant changes in any of these parameters in the control group or the low intensity exercise group.

Conclusions: Data from the study found conclusively that body composition changes are indeed affected by the exercise intensity and that high intensity training is far more effective at reducing visceral abdominal fat and subcutaneous abdominal fat.

So if you are serious about getting your midsection into shape and improving your overall health, you might want to give high intensity training another look!

Kevin Richardson is one of New York City’s most sought after personal trainers and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training 10 Minute Workouts. Get a copy of Kevin’s award winning free weight loss ebook here and visit his official website at www.naturallyintense.net. 

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The Dangers Of Visceral Abdominal Fat

In the olden days body fat was considered to be mainly a storage mechanism for our bodies in order to have an easily accessed supply of energy in the event of food shortage or prolonged periods of activity. However we know today that there are different kinds of fat- visceral (surrounding the abdominal organs) or subcutaneous (fat that lies between the skin and the abdominal walls).  The cosmetic considerations aside, several  studies show that  high visceral fat levels increase risk factors for insulin resistance, which sets the stage for type 2 diabetes. (Some research suggests that the deeper layers of subcutaneous fat may also be involved in the development of insulin resistance (in men but not in women).

Visceral Abdominal Fat Plays A Major Role In Developing Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease

These fat cells in the abdominal area are not merely inert storage mechanisms- in fact they are very much biologically active. In a way you should think of fat as an organ onto itself, as it is able to produce hormones and other substances that can have a profound effect on our health. One such hormone secreted by fat cells is leptin. Leptin is usually released after a meal and sends a signal to your brain for you to stop eating. Another hormone produced by visceral fat cells is the hormone adiponectin, which is thought to influence the response of our cells to insulin. Although scientists are still learning more everyday about the roles of individual hormones, it is clear that excess body fat, especially visceral abdominal fat seems to disrupt the normal balance and functioning of these hormones. Thus our body doesn’t secrete insulin the way it should (insulin resistance) and our we overeat because our leptin levels are disrupted by the increased presence of visceral fat.

Visceral Abdominal Fat Creates Chronic Inflammation & Increase Cancer Risks

Another finding that has researchers looking at the link between abdominal fat deposits and increased risk of metabolic syndrome is the role of cytokines. Visceral fat produces these immune system chemicals (namely tumor necrosis factor and interleukin y6) that can bring about an increase in insulin resistance, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and chronic inflammation. Research also shows that there are other biochemicals coming from visceral abdominal fat that appear to have negative effects on insulin sensitivity, blood pressure and the body’s blood clotting ability. The alarming news is that the dangers of increased visceral abdominal fat don’t end at heart disease and diabetes, studies have found that a waist to hip ratio higher than 0.85 was linked to a 52% increase in risk for colorectal cancer among women.

Visceral Abdominal Fat Hampers Daily Activity & Brain Function

Another study on atherosclerosis done at Wake Forest University in North Carolina found interestingly enough that even among people of normal weight, those with higher waist to hip ratios had just as much difficulty performing the daily tasks of everyday life as those that with a higher Body Mass Index (BMI).  Apparently having a big belly seems to make simple tasks such as getting out of bed and performing routine household chores far more difficult! More shocking was a study presented at an annual meeting for the Society for Neuroscience which found that older people with bigger bellies had on average worse memory and less verbal fluency, and that was even when adjustments were made in the study to take diabetes into account.

How Do I Get Rid Of Visceral Fat?

So how do we combat this nefarious form of fat around our waists? Simple, exercise in conjunction with healthy eating are the most universally accepted and proven methods of reducing visceral abdominal fat. The great part is that by making healthy eating and exercising a regular part of your life not only will you reduce your risk of developing potentially fatal diseases, but you will look and feel better in the process as well!

Related Articles: High Intensity Training Reduces Visceral Abdominal Fat

Kevin Richardson is one of New York City’s most sought after personal trainers and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training 10 Minute Workouts. Get a copy of Kevin’s award winning free weight loss ebook here and visit his official website at www.naturallyintense.net. 

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How To Build Your Lower Abs: The Problem Area

For most- both men and especially women,  the lower abdominal region is their trouble spot. Even for those in relatively good shape the question always seems to arise on how do you build your lower abs and make that region right under your belly button flat and tight. Firstly, I should explain the structure of the abdominal muscles. The upper region of your rectus abdominus is relatively heavily muscled and can be easily developed which is what gives you that unmistakable six pack when the area is low in subcutaneous fat. Most people that diet properly and are able to reduce their overall body fat will start seeing their upper abdominals even if they are marginally developed but not their lower abs.

You can clearly see that your lower abs are not thickly muscled like your upper abs

The problem is that your lower abdominals are more of a thin sheath of muscle as opposed to the thickly muscled blocks of your upper abdominals. Thus you can do all the exercises in the world, but to have prominently visible abs, you must have low body-fat levels in your stomach region. Since there is so little to the lower region, in terms of protruding muscle, you really have to get your overall body fat levels down to the lowest levels in order to see them. In fact when I work with bodybuilders and fitness models preparing them for contests that way that you would determine whether or not they are competition ready and at their best is when you can see the ridges of their lower abs and some vascularity in that area as well.

How To Build Your Lower Abs: Exercises That Target The Region

From an exercise standpoint the lower abs serve to rotate the pelvis inwards towards the ribcage so any movement such as reverse crunches or leg raise type exercise will focus on that area- but it more a matter of strengthening the region that building it up as there really isn’t that much to build. At the end of the day it comes down to how much you can reduce your body fat levels and the same holds true for your upper abdominals as well. You can do sit ups until you are blue in the face, train your abs everyday and still not see much of anything as such movements only work the muscle but do little to get rid of the layer of fat obscuring your abs.

How to Build Your Lower Abs: Too Many Abdominal Exercises May Cause A Protruding Stomach

That being said, train your abdominal muscles the same way that you train any other body part and don’t overdo it. Your goal should be to ensure that your midsection is strong and balanced and by training them everyday with a slew of exercises you are only over-training the area and may in some instances even over develop your abdominals. Once problem that I have seen happen with people that go too far is that they develop very blocky type abs- which may look impressive when their shirt is off but the blocks protrude outwards and give the appearance of a big gut when they are wearing clothes- which is certainly not what most people are looking for and is almost impossible to completely reverse. You see it as well with individuals that use anabolic steroids as their abdominals become far bigger than they ordinarily would be and thus they have to suck their stomach in to not look like they have a beer gut- which isn’t really a pretty sight.

Having Great Lower Abs Comes Down To Your Diet & Your Bodyfat Levels

The author

For the record- I don’t train my abdominals directly on a regular basis and haven’t done so seriously for over ten years now and they still look exactly the same- lower abs included. It might surprise you as well that the majority of natural athletes with great abs don’t really do much to keep them that way besides watch what they eat. If you follow a properly executed high intensity weight training routine your abdominals get a real workout in the process stabilizing your midsection during heavy movements and again you don’t want to over develop them by doing too much. So less is more if you have been training for several years doing more abdominal work isn’t going to do very much to make them come out more.

Diet is the key and keep in mind that for your lower abs to be really tight, (especially for women) you really have to work hard to reduce and maintain your body fat to the point where they are visible. Training wise you’ll have a better chance at seeing your lower abs come out from high intensity resistance training rather than conventional aerobic type workouts but the onus still is on your diet. That being said having great lower abs shouldn’t be the be-all-and-end-all of any fitness program. Remember that having a low bodyfat percentage doesn’t always mean that you are healthy and you can have a six pack and still suffer from health related problems. Instead keep your eye on eating well at all times, always have a good and wholesome breakfast and be on guard to avoid processed and refined foods in your diet and of course always eat in moderation. If you train hard and stick to that philosophy in time you just might start seeing your lower abs coming out!

Related Articles:

Six Pack Abs- It’s All About What You Eat

Get a copy of Kevin’s free award winning weight loss ebook here! Kevin Richardson is one of New York City’s most sought after personal trainers and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training 10 Minute Workouts. Visit his official website at www.naturallyintense.net. 

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