If you have been struggling to lose abdominal fat you are one of many. People in the US have become increasingly obese at every turn of a year. Why? Too may bad carbs and far too less exercise. Fast food joints are more prevalent than ever and it is just too easy to say the heck with it and pick something up on the way home instead of taking the time to cook a nice, healthy meal.

The first step in being able to lose abdominal fat is to change your mindset. No one can do it for you and there is no magic pill that you can take when you go to bed so you wake up thin in the morning. Losing weight takes dedication and perseverance.

Basically, you have to change your mindset and then reset your body. Our bodies work on a schedule and if you mess with that schedule then your body gets confused and because it is confused then it just stops working for you altogether and you gain weight.

If you are stuck on carbs then you need to quit them or change over to healthy carbs. Get the heck away from breads and all the processed foods you find on the shelves of your grocery store. Start eating fresh, whole foods. Get your carbs from fruits and vegetables and eat lean protein like fish, eggs and chicken.

Trim the calories you take in everyday, too. Settle on a 1200 or 1500 calorie per day eating plan. Did you know if you lose just 20% of your body fat you cut your risk for heart disease and diabetes almost in half? That’s right. It is never too late to start losing weight.

Part of resetting your body comes in the form of resetting your insulin pump. When you eat carbs, especially bad carbs, your body is ready to burn that energy you have given it up by converting it into simple sugars. When those simple sugars are not burned up the insulin that the pancreas has pumped into your system converts the simple sugars into fat and deposits that fat around your middle.

Since insulin stays in your system for a lot longer time than the simple sugars then anything you eat after that also gets immediately stored as fat around the middle. Resetting your insulin pump is the most important thing to do when you want to start losing weight.

We have all heard this one before, quit drinking pop and other sugary drinks and just stick to water. Half of your body weight in ounces every day. If you think water is boring and can’t stand to drink it, try this.

Take about a cup of frozen fruit, a berry mixture works very well, and let it sit in the bottom of a pitcher of water for about an hour. When the hour is up strain the fruit off and chill the water. Basically you have made your own type of smart water and the best part is you won’t need any sugar in it. With these tips you will not have to wait very long to lose abdominal fat.

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If you’re considering moving to a vegetarian diet as an adult, you probably want to pass on this good nutrition and improved way of eating to your family as well. In fact, it’s your responsibility as a parent to nurture your children and help them develop physically, mentally and spiritually.

But that can be hard to do, especially in a culture where our children are bombarded with messages from fast food restaurants in the media. How do you teach kids to resist the siren song of Ronald McDonald? There isn’t a plate of vegetables on the planet that’s going to look as good to them as a Happy Meal!

You have to start slowly to change not only your own eating patterns, but your family’s as well. Like any other dietary endeavor, it starts at the grocery store. Begin stocking the refrigerator with healthy snacks like apples and carrots. Exchange good, chewy brown rice for white rice and processed side dishes, which are so high in fat and sodium. Make meat portions smaller and smaller and start incorporating more vegetables and grains in your family dinners.

Don’t make changes all at once. If you do give in and stop at a fast food restaurant, get fruit or yogurt in addition to or part of that meal. Make the changes so gradual that they’ll never notice their diets are changing. Kids are usually very sympathetic about animals, and it’s not too early to talk to them about eating in a way that isn’t cruel to animals.

You’ll be doing them a favor that will last them a lifetime. With childhood obesity at epidemic levels in the U.S., you will be setting up your children for lifelong eating habits that will help ensure a long and healthy life.

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If you’re thinking of changing to a vegetarian diet, how do you start? Do you just start shopping in the produce aisle of the grocery store? You might have some anxiety attached to this change as well, and this is understandable.

Try to think of this as adding to your dietary habits, rather than a drastic change. If your diet has consistently included red meat, perhaps you can start substituting other foods for the red meat. Or eliminate the most processed and high-fat meats first, such as bacon and hamburgers. Certainly try to eliminate fast food burgers, which have such a high fat and sodium content. If you think you’ll miss the taste of bacon in the morning, try substituting a turkey or vegetable-based bacon substitute. It won’t be the same, but you won’t be giving up the foods you’re used to all at once.

If you’ve had a health scare and feel the need to change everything at once, make sure you include a lot of variety in the foods you buy as you begin to discover new flavors and textures that you’ll like to replace the ones you’re used to eating. If you don’t need to make a dramatic change all at once, you’ll have a much greater chance of long-term success if you take it slow.

Reduce the amount of red meat that you eat on a weekly basis, even if it means substituting pasta with marinara sauce for meat just one night a week. Increase the amounts of fruits and vegetables you eat. Start with raw vegetables at night before dinner so you’re not so hungry when you get to the main meal. Start reversing the proportions of meat and vegetables and make meat a side dish, with vegetables and grains your main course.

We’re creatures of habit and resistant to change. This is why so many diets fail, because we make drastic changes to facilitate dramatic results, quickly. This is a decision and a change you want to make for a lifetime. Make it a natural and gradual change and you can look forward to many more years of healthy living.

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How To Keep Your Child From Becoming Obese – Work At It

If you want to know how to keep your child from becoming obese, the best thing you can do is to lead by example. Teach them from an early age the importance of eating right and getting plenty of daily physical activity.

We are creatures that can be taught many things. Many of the things we like or dislike are actually just habits. If you teach your kids to like fruits, vegetables and to lead a healthy active lifestyle, they will. Of course, they will make their own decisions as they get older but that early training will set the stage for life long good habits.

One of the worst things you can do is to be a hypocrite. This is true not only with diet and exercise issues but with your overall lifestyle too. For example, if you are a smoker, it is ok to tell your kids they shouldn’t smoke, but if you don’t want to seem like a hypocrite you shouldn’t just ‘order’ them not to smoke (which doesn’t work anyway) it’s much better to talk to them honestly about the dangers of cigarettes and how you wish you had never started, etc.

lead by example, always. It’s also helpful to workout with your kids. From a young age include them in the activities that lead to a healthy lifestyle. Go to the gym together, take a workout or fitness class together, take martial arts or boxing classes together, go for a swim or play basketball together. Just get in the habit of spending time getting some exercise together.

You can also include them in the food planning. When they are old enough go through cook books with them and ask them to help you find new recipes to try. Let them come with you to the grocery store and teach them how to buy fruits and vegetables.

Go to farmers markets or health food and organic stores with your kids. The earlier you start these habits with your kids the more ingrained it will become (it’s also a wonderful way for you all to spend time together).

Many of these ideas can help you set your kids on a path that will be the foundation for a life time of better lifestyle choices… and it can be fun too.

Always encourage your kids to try new things, to try things that are healthy and good for them. Sometimes parents inadvertently blow off their kids and their ideas without really meaning too. For example, if your kid is kind of a clutz and they come to you and tell you they want to take martial arts lesson, don’t laugh and remind them that they are a clutz, instead encourage them to give it a try.

You may think that you are protecting them from being hurt emotional, but you can’t go through life that way. You won’t always be there and they may just be good at it. Even if they’re not, you can still help them find something that will work for them.

It’s easy to learn how to keep your child from becoming obese, the best way to do that is to be proactive and teach them good habits from the start.

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