Achieving Your Goals in 2012

Well we're now almost at the end of January.

Have you written a list of New Year resolutions that you can look back over the year and mark off as you accomplish each one?



I know I have, in fact I have 8 goals that I want to achieve by the end of 2012.

Achieving your goals in 2012 isn't as hard as you may think

For me as I’ve got older, my goals are SMART goals.

What I mean is:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Realistic
T – Timely

That’s absolutely no point in writing down that I want to fly to the moon by the end of 2012, because you know what, it isn’t going to happen.

SMART goals are achievable goals that you can set yourself over the whole of 2012.

So, if you want to run a marathon this coming summer than you need to plan each individual step, how often you need to train each week, how you progress to eventually being able to run that marathon, how you need to eat, how often you should eat, what you should eat and how you will need to up your calorie intake to cope with the amount of training that you will be doing.

The same applies if you want to lose 20 pounds, how are you going to get there? Don’t just say that I want to lose 20 pounds this year, set yourself weekly, monthly goals and an exact time frame of when you want to achieve your weight loss by. How many times each week are you going to workout, what program are you going to use, obviously your now shouting The Flat Stomach Solution, in that case you would definitely have hit your weight loss goal within 12 weeks….

Can you see what I’m saying here, planning and setting yourself SMART goals is the way that you are going to achieve your goals.

My suggestion to you now is choose 5-10 New Year’s resolutions that are achievable and start planning how you’re going to achieve them. Take it individual one and write a detailed plan of action.
Using the SMART system to achieve your goals can work in every area of your life.

Don’t wait for life to happen, chase it!

Here's to an amazing new year, may it be filled with happiness, success and love.

Lose Stomach Fat at the Grocery Store!

Did you know that you can literally lose stomach fat at your local grocery store?

Did you also know that you can put on layers and layers of 'stomach fat' in that very same store?

One of my main chores that I do every weekend is visit my local grocery store to stock up on fresh fish, lean meats, fruits and vegetables for the week ahead…

This weekend though it seemed far busier than usual and gave me a chance to people watch and have a good look at what they were putting in their shopping cart.

I’d say that at least 65% of the people in the store were obese, and looking in their shopping carts it wasn’t difficult to see why.

I saw lots of carts filled up with stuff like cakes, white breads, ready meals, bottles and bottles of soda.

With each cart I walked past the list of processed and ‘junk’ foods just went on and on…

These are foods that helped them get to the unhealthy size they are today but I guess they just don’t know any different or they’re happy to violate their body with that crap!

Do you stop to think about what you’re putting in to your shopping cart?

Is it 80% ‘halo’ and 20% ‘oh no’ or is it the other way around?!?!?!


It’s become apparent over the past 10 years working with so many clients, and what’s shown in the media that stomach fat that creates the muffin top is now a huge problem area for women.

Gone are the days when we think it’s just men that have a ‘beer belly’, alarmingly we are seeing more and more women with this problem.

Gaining fat around your belly is not only disheartening but it’s also extremely unhealthy, more so than any other area of your body!

Excess stomach fat increases your chances of cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer and diabetes.

Many women think that the stomach fat is limited to the amount of physical flab you can grab with your hand but it’s the stomach fat that you can’t see that is a major issue.

There are two types of fat that I’m talking about and the first one is visceral fat.

Visceral fat lies deep in your abdomen which surrounds your internal organs. When you gain this type of fat big problems can start and if you don’t make changes quickly this can lead to serious health issues that can be fatal!

The second type of fat is located between the skin and the abdominal wall and that’s the subcutaneous fat.

This is a lot more visible and can be measured with callipers to give you an indication of how much body fat you are carrying.

It certainly doesn’t cause problems like Visceral fat does but having too much of it definitely won’t give you a sexy flat stomach or the confidence to wear the clothes you want.

If you’re experiencing this problem then help is at hand.

The good news is that with certain lifestyle changes you can start to burn stomach fat right at the grocery store and beyond!

Here’s what to do to start to Burn Stomach Fat TODAY!

1. Plan your meals, write a weekly menu, change it regularly and keep a food diary

2. Go grocery shopping either after breakfast or lunch, never shop on an empty stomach
(That includes clothes and shoe shopping; the hunger will make you spend more!)

3. An area that rarely moves in the store is the fruit and veg section, so make sure this is your first stop and fill your cart up with a variety of both and add lots of color!

4. There one S that’s in and one S that’s out ~ Spices are in and Salt is OUT!!

5. Stick to 80% HALO and 20% OH NO ~ Translation 80% of the time be good about the choices you make and then 20% of the time if you slip up it’s ok, we all do!

6. Choose to make fresh wholesome dishes rather than something that’s been made by a machine in a factory and put in a box for you to throw in the microwave.

7. Do it for the right reasons, for you and for your health because if you don’t have your health, then you don’t have you!

8. NEVER eat a takeout meal, it’s lazy eating and piles on the stomach fat, unless of course you have a great juice bar, health shop or salad bar near where you can fill up on nutritious delights to takeout!

You know this already but I’m going to tell you anyway.

Get Your Body Moving on a daily basis. Incorporating both resistance training and cardio training into circuits are fantastic tools to lose stomach fat. Also include 3 interval training sessions each week and you are definitely on a winner.

So next time you do your grocery shop be sure to keep it fresh, clean and vibrant!

Once you start to make these small changes you will have far more energy, your skin will glow and you will totally start to feel healthy.

No more muffin top, just you feeling on top of the world!

Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous!

Steph.

Author of The Flat Stomach Solution

The Truth about Stomach Fat

One of my main chores that I do every weekend is visit my local supermarket to stock up on fresh fish, lean meats, fruits and vegetables for the week ahead…

I tend to people watch when I'm walking around and have a good look at what foods other shoppers put in their trolleys.

I’d say that at least 65% of the people in the store were clearly over weight carrying lots of stomach fat.

Considering the products in some of their trolleys I was sadly not surprised!

Most of their trolleys were filled up with the foods that helped them get to the unhealthy size they are. They had stuff like cakes, white breads and ready meals.

Each trolley I walked past, the list of un nutritional foods just went on and on…

It made me so sad and I had the urge to stop people and say WHY ARE YOU EATING THAT CRAP, DON’T YOU REALISE WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO YOUR BODY?! But I am pretty sure they wouldn’t have thanked me for that!!

If you're like me, then you want to educate yourself so that you can make positive choices and embrace lasting change.

It’s come to light over the past 10 years both in the media and working with so many women that the stomach is a huge problem area. Gone are the days when we think it’s just men that have the ‘beer belly’, alarmingly we are seeing more and more women with this stomach fat problem.

Gaining fat around your tummy is not only disheartening but it’s also extremely unhealthy, more so than any other area of your body. Excess 'belly fat' increases your chances of cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer and diabetes.

The good news is that with just a few lifestyle changes you can make your belly fat a thing of the past...

Unfortunately too many women think that the belly fat is limited to the amount of fat you can grab with your hand but it’s the fat that you can’t see that is a major issue.

There are two types of fat that I’m talking about and the first one is Visceral fat.

Visceral fat lies deep in your abdomen which surrounds the internal organs. When you gain this type of fat, the problems may start.
This type of stomach fat brings with it so many health problems, which is something you can and should avoid at all costs!

The second type of fat is located between the skin and the abdominal wall and that’s the subcutaneous fat. This is a lot more visible and can be measured with callipers to give you an indication of how much body fat you are carrying. It certainly doesn’t cause problems like Visceral fat does but having too much of it definitely wont give you a lean tight stomach.

You can do something about this and eliminate or avoid gaining ANY type of fat!

Changing your diet, cutting out all processed foods and replacing them with natural, nutritious foods is your first major step.

Burn Stomach Fat by Eating Healthy Fats

The next step is to get your body moving on a daily basis. Circuit training and resistance training should be done at least 3 x each week.

The Best Ab Workout Exercises!

Once you start to make these small changes you will start to have far more energy, your skin will glow and you will generally start to 'feel' healthy. Being ready for anything life has to throw at you.

You can be certain of a sexy flat stomach in no time, get motivated and make the lasting changes your body and soul deserve!

Share your transformation tips and comment below.


Stay fit, keep focused and feel fabulous!

Steph.

Author of The Flat Stomach Solution

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