1. Diet pills will make you lose it fast
The term diet pill sounds too tempting to resist when you are working towards getting a flat stomach. Most of us think that these pills can pave the way to a flat stomach in an easy and fast manner, as advertised by the creators of these magic pills. But the truth is that pills can only lead to heavy bills! There is no such pill that can act as a substitute to a real physical workout, whether it is for burning calories or for improving your metabolism.
2. Starvation is the key to slenderness
Well, starvation can indeed lead you to salvation but definitely not to a flat belly. The first thing that people start doing to achieve weight loss is eating lesser than their body really needs. While this may show you some instant results mainly due to muscle loss, this kind of weight loss is unhealthy, temporary, and rather harmful.
When you start eating less food, the body craves for food since you are left hungry. This craving may sometimes make you binge on fatty foods and affects the metabolism also. The body’s metabolism slows down and is therefore not able to tolerate the normal food intake later. Thus, when you get back to normal portions, you are likely to regain the weight faster than you lost it!
It is, therefore, better to eat healthy which means chucking out the junk out of your food. Eat whole grains, fruits, and nuts which help you feel fuller in a healthy way. Also, start eating smaller portions frequently throughout the day instead of 3 big meals!
3. Work out those abs like crazies for ‘spot’ reduction of fat
The first thing that people think of when aiming for a flat stomach is crunches for upper and lower abs. That is a typical mindset and people start doing all sorts of crunches and sit-ups to get those lovely six-pack abs!
However, the fact is that crunches or any abdominal exercise may help you strengthen the core muscles but do not help in shedding extra fat around the belly. If you want those strong muscles to show and tone your belly, you must first aim at exercising for fat reduction, which is never from a particular ‘zone’. It is only a combination of cardiovascular and aerobic exercises that will remove the layers of fat, thereby making your abdominal muscles visible.
4. Eat more of low fat packaged foods and supplements
This is also a common myth that the so-called “low fat or no fat” packaged products aid lowering the calorie intake. Whereas, the reality is that sometimes these foods may be higher in their sugar content for either better taste or certain preservatives. This means that you might end up consuming more calories than the regular unpackaged full-fat foods. Instead, try eating fresh food cooked in healthy unsaturated fats like olive oil and rice bran oil which controls bad cholesterol in our body. Avoid taking any supplements unless prescribed under a special diet plan by a qualified dietician.
5. Say ‘No’ to carbs completely
While it is good to avoid too much intake of carbohydrates, it’s also important not to eliminate them completely from your diet. The idea is to stick to healthy wholesome carbs like brown rice, oatmeal, nuts, whole grains, etc. Remember that all elements of foods are important for overall well-being and should not be eliminated completely. You only need to balance your daily intake.
6. You can not benefit at all if you don’t exercise hard!
Many people don’t exercise at all thinking that it’s no point exercising unless they follow a rigorous regime for at least an hour. Now that’s not true. Every effort counts! It is obvious that a regular and proper fitness regime is more effective in shedding the extra pounds, but even if you start with little exercise per day, it doesn’t go down the drain. If you don’t have an hour to spare at a stretch, try splitting the duration into 3-4 sessions of 10-15 minutes each. It is easier to take out time that way and use simple ways to do some physical workout. For instance, quit the elevator and take the stairs, do spot running (you can do that inside your room!!), try squats (they don’t need much space or equipment!).
7. No pain, no gain!
Are you exercising enough to feel the pain in your body? If yes, then please stop! Either you may be going overboard or doing it wrong to cause a pain. Try and understand the signals that your body is giving out. General fatigue or tiredness in muscles is okay after exercising but a sharp uncomfortable pain in joints or muscles is not a healthy sign. A good workout should make you sweat and breathe hard, only enough to answer a question or two. But if you are gasping for breath, then you need to slow down. However, a comfortable conversation during the height of your workout means that you need to step up.
8. Eat the junk and work it off the next day!!Â
Junk food is a total no-no if you are aiming to get a flat belly. Though it’s true that you need to burn calories to shed the fat, it doesn’t mean that you can gorge upon the extra cheese junk food and workout extra the next day to get it off. You should simply avoid eating junk if you wish to slim down and aim for fitness.
9. Negative Calorie Diet
Though this is a relatively less believed myth, but this notion suggests that eating “fat-burning foods” which have a high chili content are thermogenic in nature and can burn fat. Some people think that such foods absorb more calories from the body to digest and therefore help in slimming down. However, the fact is that despite being thermogenic in nature, you cannot rely on these foods entirely to lose weight. You still need to exercise and watch your daily calorie intake.
10. Drink lemon and honey on an empty stomach
One extremely common practice is to drink lemon and honey in warm water on an empty stomach every morning. While this is a great way to cleanse your colon and enhance metabolism, this is not exactly a weight loss remedy as believed to be. This concoction is a healthy start to the day and may enhance your chances of losing fat, but this is not a magic potion to burning or shedding fat quickly.
Ultimately, healthy weight reduction and flat abdominal area is a time taking procedure that needs disciplined eating habits and a good fitness regime. Take a balanced diet, chalk out a regular workout plan, combine it with proper hydration and a night of good sleep and you will see the benefits rub on you, or rather the fat rub off you!
