The women's fitness blog

If you've been losing weight for a while, you may come to a stage where you can't lose any more fat from some areas. For women, this is usually the stomach, hips and thighs. If you want to shift that stubborn fat from these problem areas, it doesn't have to be hard. Even if you are busy, I can show you how to succeed.

My intention with this post is to teach you a few things you can do to shift the fat and how plan out your day to help.

1. Fat Loss Workouts

You may think that in order to get in an effective workout you have to spend hours every week slaving away on the treadmill or going to classes in order to lose that stubborn fat from your stomach, hips, thighs, buttocks and upper back.

Have you attained the body of your dreams by doing that or do you just think that that's what you're supposed to do?

Doing hours of light exercise isn't going to shift that stubborn fat.

All you really need to do is find about 10-20 minutes every day to fit in quality, intense workouts, with little interruption, and you'll be burning fat like crazy.

You don't even need lots of fancy equipment. You could get away with just using some dumbbells, resistance bands and your own bodyweight. Just make sure the dumbbells are heavy enough - you should have to make real effort and work up a sweat.

Here's an example of a female fat loss bodyweight workout. Do these exercises in a circuit format and complete as many of the circuits as you can in 15 minutes.

1A) Bodyweight Squat - 15 reps

1B) Push-up - 10 reps

1C) Hip Extension - 15 reps

1D) Plank - 45 seconds

1E) Forward Lunge - 15 per leg

1F) Push-up - 10 reps

1G) Mt. Climbers - 30 seconds

Do that a few times a week and I guarantee you'll lose stomach fat, you'll lose the muffin top...you'll be losing that stubborn fat like crazy!

2. Fit in quality meals when you're busy

It's tough to fit in quality meals when you're always on the go, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

You just need to learn to plan ahead and know where your weaknesses are.

Do you always find yourself starving by 9:00? Well, then plan ahead and bring along some almonds and a piece of fruit so you're not tempted to eat an unhealthy snack, bagel or nothing at all.

If you get really pressed for time and are hungry come lunch time, don't head for the nearest drive-thru or to eat a high-fat or high-carb meal. Instead, plan ahead and make something for lunch that's easy to eat on the go like a turkey or chicken breast sandwich with some fruit. Make sure you snack on healthy foods through the morning so you don't get too hungry and can show some self-control.

You should also sit down on Sundays and look at your calendar and plan ahead for the week. If you know you're going to be busy every night of the week, plan ahead and bake up a bunch of chicken breast and have some healthy side dishes prepared in advance so all you have to do is pop them in the microwave and you're good to go.

Convenience is key with this one. If it's not convenient, you'll find something that is...like fast food or a box of cookies.

Learn to understand your habits and follow these two stubborn fat loss tips and you'll be well on your way to getting rid of the stubborn fat that just won't seem to go away.

Labels: busy lifestyle, hips, stomach, thighs

Would you like to "jump start" your metabolism and lose your ‘mommy belly' once and for all? If so, the following seven tips are exactly what you need to improve your workouts and ignite your metabolism. Try some or all of these tips, but beware, the result may be a number of admiring second glances and the need to pull your ‘skinny jeans' out of the closet.

1. The majority of your workouts should be composed of free-weight, bodyweight or cable exercises.

Compared to machines, free-weight, bodyweight and cable movements often require more skill, create muscular balance, and have a greater metabolic cost. For example, it is more difficult to balance the weights, and to coordinate muscles when performing free-weight exercises. Although this may sound like a disadvantage, it is actually a benefit. By balancing and stabilizing free-weights or cables you are working more muscles through a greater range of motion resulting in more muscles developed and more calories burned.

2. Use exercises that work more than one muscle at a time.

When focusing on fat loss, you can't worry about "shaping" exercises, instead you should use exercises that'll get you the biggest bang for your buck and work as many muscles as possible. Isolation exercises can be used at the end of a workout to work on a specific target area, but they just serve to supplement your core movements.

Virtually every savvy fitness professional is privy to the fact that compound exercises recruit the most muscle groups for any given body part.

If you seek lean, toned muscles and the increase in metabolism that comes with them, you must choose exercises that work as many different muscles as possible. One of the main reasons why squats are superior to leg extensions for improving your body is that they also work your butt, hamstrings and inner thighs in addition to toning your quadriceps while leg extensions focus on just the front of your thigh and don't really offer any other benefit. That same rationale hold true for arm exercises too. That's why dumbell presses and dips will are more valuable for your arms than triceps kickbacks and pushdowns.

A good rule of thumb is to use movements that will allow you to use the most weight. These will have a systemic effect on your body that'll help maintain or increase your lean muscle, and in turn ignite your metabolism.

3. Pair exercises.

Pair your exercises together so that you alternate between upper-body exercises and lower-body exercises or between exercises that target opposing muscle groups (e.g. chest and back).

This type of approach will keep your workouts short and efficient by eliminating much of the downtime that comes between sets of a single exercise since you are working on one movement while resting from another. This approach can also yield huge benefits in your mission to burn fat. Since you'll constantly be moving and keeping your heart rate elevated, you'll be burning far more calories than you would during a typical workout.

4. Keep your reps between 8 and 12.

Through research, it has been determined that the best range for building lean muscle is roughly between 8-12 reps. Since the main focus of your resistance training efforts is to gain lean body mass and stimulate your metabolism, this rep range fills the bill perfectly. "High reps for tone and fat loss" is one of the biggest (and most unproductive) training myths! Somehow the aerobics, yoga and Pilates' community have convinced us that when we perform bodyweight exercises or light resistance training for high reps, our muscles magically take on a beautiful shape without growing or bulging. On the other hand, if you challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body will take on a bulky, unflattering appearance. If you believe this, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy!

5. Rest only 30 to 60 seconds between sets.

When you keep the rest periods under one minute, it's easier to stay focused on the task at hand and keeps your heart rate elevated. In addition, it forces your muscles to recover more quickly between sets, along with keeping your nervous system revved up.

If your first movement in an upper/lower body pair is squats, you might want to rest 60 seconds before attempting your second movement. However, if your first exercise is a fairly "easy" exercise, like lat pull downs, you might only wish to wait 30 seconds before doing the second part of the pair.

6. Perform total body workouts.

You must drop the notion that muscle groups work independently of one another. Muscles work together and should be trained that way. Besides, not only does this approach mean less time in the gym, but by working the whole body three times per week, you'll be maximizing the fat burning effect of your program.

7. Cardio is not the cure-all for fat loss.

Cardiovascular exercise aids in the creation of a caloric deficit, but the caloric expenditure during cardio is temporary. Strength training addresses the core of the problem by permanently increasing the rate at which the body burns calories by adding muscle. The best programs will include both strength training and cardiovascular training, but the core or the programs effectiveness is resistance training.

Take these strategies and incorporate them into your workout routine. Not only will you save a lot of time, but you'll also soon see a leaner and more toned body. Not to mention a few more turned heads and the re-emergence of your skinny jeans.

Labels: busy lifestyle, fat loss

Most of our lifetimes are spent at our work places. With all the other things that keep us busy in our free time, it makes sense to keep fit at work. Only a fit person can pay his/her full potential in work.


Sadly, most people are desk bound at work. We cannot all be postmen or women! Our bodies were made to move though. The more active the better. Giving our bodies the workout that they deserve also helps our minds to think clearer. So here are a few tips on how to keep fit at work.

Try some of the following tips to be fit at your workplace :-

- Park your car further away. You can also get off one bus stop too soon if you take the bus to work. Remember to wear comfortable shoes and to get earlier out of the house. If you drive to the bus/train station, why not walk there?

- Maintain a healthy diet when you are at work. No office biscuits. Try to have some fruit and vegetables at lunch. Fruit keeps you active at work and vegetables are good for your eyes and skin.

- Always take lots of water to work. Water provides essential minerals and oxygen in your body, which makes you feel more awake.

- Take a break after every 30 minutes and keep moving. Do not sit idle on your chair for more then 30 minutes. Keeping moving helps circulation and metabolism.

- Have something to eat on your table. When you are working in long working shifts, sometimes you forget to eat regularly.

- Do stretches at your desk. Place your hands behind your lower back while sitting up straight. Move your right ear toward your right shoulder and then slowly move your left ear toward your left shoulder. Then, look down at your desk while pulling in your stomach muscles and straighten your back. Then look up at the ceiling. These and other stretches can help protect your back during the working day.

- Sit on an exercise ball. Swapping your chair for a exercise ball / swiss ball necessitates balance, creates good posture and exercises your core muscles.

- Have a good meal, whether its a lunch, dinner or breakfast in office. And remember to take a walk after these meals. Walking keeps your digestive system ticking over.

- Go out for lunch. Don't go out to eat a huge meal. Take the time to walk to the nearest park to eat your sandwich from home there. You can go window shopping or go and get a sandwich from that nice deli three blocks away. Walk every week in another direction to discover another part of the area you work in.

- Don't use the elevator/lift. Climb the stairs, it does wonders for your backside. If you work, or live, in a very tall building you can get of the elevator a few floors lower than yours. You can add an extra floor of climbing stairs once a week.

- Make a good environment in office and be happy at work. Because a happy person can achieve lots of things in life. Make lots of friends at work. Give them advice and share your thoughts and ideas with them. Your motivation to stay healthy will stay high.

- Talk to your colleagues in person, rather than using the phone or email. If possible, get up and go and talk to them in person. You can tell them that you have send them an email with the information they were looking for! This also gets you away from the people pestering you at your desk!

- Make use of the facilities. Some workplaces have a gym that you can use during your lunch break. Maybe there is a gym just around the corner from where you work. Even a nearby swimming pool would be great for a few laps during your break.

- Ask your employer to help. Use your imagination - employers will be open to suggestions that keep their employees happy. Maybe you can convince them to install showers, for instance. Showers at work open up a lot of options. You can cycle to work, or even jog if it is not too far away. You can also go for a jog before work or during your lunch break.


Try all these above tips. The secret is to keep moving. Make other people tired of just looking at YOU. It will be hard in the beginning, that is guaranteed. But you once you have got your momentum going, you will be the fittest person at work.

Labels: busy lifestyle, keeping fit, work