Most people, especially women, store their excess fat in the abdomen and thighs. Losing belly fat and getting thinner thighs might not be easy, but it can be done. You can choose exercise routines that focus on abdominal and thigh muscles. Plus, certain types of food can also speed up your metabolism and turn your body into a fat-burning engine.
Daily Brisk Walk
Frank Campitelli, a physical trainer and the author of "Advanced Method For A Flat Abdomen And Thin Waist", mentions in his book that brisk walking is the best weight loss exercise. Having a brisk walk at least fifteen minutes a day will be highly beneficial for your body. It helps burn calories, tone up the muscles in the lower abdomen and thighs, and encourage the body to produce more fat-burning enzymes. To target your abdomen and lose belly fat, lengthen your spine and tighten your abs as you walk. Hold the contraction for about five seconds, then release and retighten those abdominal muscles again. To target the thighs, add a "kickout" routine to your walk. As you walk, lift one knee up to your stomach and kick out, straightening your leg. Lower the leg and switch sides. Keep alternating back and forth for about two minutes.
Biking
Biking, both on a real bike and stationary bike, can help flatten your stomach and tone up your thighs. The balancing and pedalling allows you to exercise every muscle in your legs and butt. Plus, it is an enjoyable cardio workout that allows you to burn off excess fat and enliven your mood. Thirty minutes of biking, three or four times a week, should make you feel the difference in your abdomen and thighs within a few months. Remember to set the seat and handlebars in the position that will not strain your back. You should not have to lower your back too much in order to grab the handlebars.
Take Up Yoga
Denise Austin, the author of "Shrink Your Female Fat Zones" recommends yoga for people who want to lose belly fat and get thinner thighs. The best advantage of yoga is that it is both aerobic and anaerobic. While aerobic exercise allows the body to burn calories during the routine, anaerobic workouts increase muscle mass and speed up metabolism. People who adopt both aerobic and anaerobic workouts to their exercise routine tend to lose weight faster than those who do aerobic only. Another benefit of yoga is it helps correct bad posture or body alignment. Poor upper-body posture is one of the reasons for a protruding abdomen, as it weakens supporting muscles in the lower abdomen and causes the stomach to bulge. Yoga can help improve your upper-body posture and strengthen your abdominal muscles.
Do Not Diet
Cutting down the calorie intake by eating less is not a proper solution. Thousands of years ago, humans often experienced famines and long droughts. Their bodies learned to store every excess calorie as fat and burn it off very slowly over time. These fat deposits basically worked as a food bank that enabled them to survive. Unfortunately, our ancestors also passed on those genes to us. That's why our metabolism tends to slow down whenever our body consumes so little food and feels hungry. Being on a diet, in other words, encourages the body to burn less calories and switch into its fat-storing mode.
Eat Healthy
Limit your intake of fatty meat, processed foods, and simple carbohydrates from sugar and alcohol. Instead, eat a lot of lean meat, fish and high-fiber foods such as bran cereals, oatmeal, fresh fruits and vegetables. These foods help stabilize you blood sugar, making you feel full and energized longer. In addition, they increase your metabolism and allow the body to burn fat faster. Unlike dieting, you can eat these healthy foods as much as you like and not feel starved.
Tags: abdomen thighs, body burn, abdominal muscles, aerobic anaerobic, anaerobic workouts, both aerobic, both aerobic anaerobic