Put Down The Twinkie! And Other Simple Weight Loss Advice

The key to successfully fighting belly fat is no secret. The same advice that you have seen repeated over and over in one form or another still rings true: Eat less, exercise more. However, this message can sometimes get lost in the confusing and overwhelming amount of nutrition and exercise advice available on blogs, in magazine articles and on television.

While some of this advice is good, most of it is too confusing or too specific to be useful. Take a step back. Clear out all the varied bits and pieces that are smudged onto your brain, and start with the basics:

Eat Better Food

Cut back on the really bad stuff – things that are fried, have a cream filling and/or boast an expiration date of over a decade. If it is dusted in sugar, glazed or frosted, put it down and back away.These things practically have ‘belly fat’ written all over them.

What is good food? Good food usually comes directly from the ground, cream filling not included. Its colors are real. There are no “ingredients” on the back that require an intermediate chemistry course to decipher.

Eat less bad foods and more good foods, and you will be on the right track.

How do you spot bad food? Marketing companies make it their very special purpose in life to confuse you about what is good and what is bad. Ignore boxes with big, bright claims on the front, even if these claims say the food is healthy.

Any food that is served in bright foil packaging should make you very wary.

One more time, stick with natural foods: fruits, vegetables and lean meats. Add flavoring with spices or light dressing. That’s all you need to know to eat much healthier than the vast majority of the population and to begin whittling down your belly fat.

Start with These Simple Exercises

Start walking: If you are just starting out, and your goal is to get healthy (rather than to build abs you can grate cheese on), then ignore everything you’ve ever heard about fitness and just start walking.

Yep, walking. Walk a lot. Whenever you can. Speed things up as walking becomes easier.

Add jogging, swimming and/or biking to workout your muscles in different ways. Keep doing this. No special routines needed. No heart rate monitors or charting necessary. Are you breathing hard? Is your heart beating fast? Then you’re doing just fine.

If you can build up to at least a half hour of aerobic exercise a day you are on the right track, especially if you really are on a track.

Stay with the basics as long as you need: Basics are the most important concepts to understand and to implement.

The basic principles in this article allow you to begin developing positive and sustainable habits. Start small and nurture them, and you will notice real change in your life, including a fast retreat by your belly fat.

When you are ready, slowly begin to introduce more depth to your nutritional and fitness routines.

Resist wallowing in data and facts. Do not become a slave to each new fact or fad. The basics are “the basics” for a reason. They work, and they will work for you.

The other articles in this section go into further detail relating to nutrition and exercise and suggest additional advice. All of the information we provide is based on well-accepted research and will be useful in working to get rid of belly fat and increase general health and fitness.