Weight Loss & Bloating

Quick Weight Loss Diets?
You see spas and companies advertise they have ‘super’ diets that will promise rapid weight loss. Like the famous liquid diets.. Don’t believe a word of it-never have, never will make you actually keep that weight off. What they do is rid your body of water, not fat and it comes right back on as soon as you replenish that water loss. What it is good for? Getting slimmer for a big event (think very temporary since as soon as you eat and drink, it’ll all come back-you’ll have to stay away from food and drink during that event for it to work). Some of these diets can be harmful and make you lose muscle mass along with the water. Muscle is heavier than fat and when you lose muscle, it appears you lose weight much faster but since muscle is better at burning fat, losing that muscle makes you lose the ability to burn away more of the fat and your body will hang on even tighter to all that fat and burn fewer calories overall. That means more weight gain over time (and more importantly an increase in inches since the fat is not as heavy-you may weigh the same but be bigger around). Always work toward building lean muscle and burn away the fat not the other way around-and you know what that means… yep you have to exercise! And eat protein to help your body build muscle not fat. Just no way around it, being a couch potato will make you fat-sorry for the bad news but even gastric surgery to reduce the size of your stomach is only temporary-as you continue to eat, that half size stomach will stretch eventually back to it’s original size!

Flatten your Tummy:
Ab crunches may not work if you already have a flabby tummy-it can actually make your belly stick out more appearing larger. If you already have a flat tummy, great, it will give you strong abs. Instead, if your tummy is already flabby, start out with laying on your back and repeatedly/alternately bringing your knees to your chest (helps a bad back as well), almost like you’re running while laying on your back, bringing your legs as high as you can each time. Be sure to get overall exercise as well to shed pounds and eat healthy meals that are small and more often (about every 2-3 hours) to stabilize your metabolism-and never skip breakfast! Eat protein rather than carbohydrates/sugars for breakfast so your metabolism gets a kick start for the whole day.

Relieve Bloating:
To a large coffee cup of boiled water, add a tablespoon of ground cinnamon (sweeten with a little honey if desired) and drink while very warm.

Relieve Puffiness from Water Retention:
Water acts as a natural ‘diuretic’.. that’s right, the more water you drink, the more water your body will shed. So not drinking water will work against you and make you hold more water. Be sure it’s water and not sodas or sugary beverages which can add calories, bloating and pounds along with the water retention-not pretty…