ASK THE TRAINER: How to lose your muffin top
I get the “how do I lose my muffin top” question on a daily basis. A tight toned mid-section is not necessarily made in the gym; it is made in the kitchen. The foods you eat play a leading role in your body fat and guess what that muffin top is? FAT! If you will eliminate these foods from your diet and add some exercise that muffin top will disappear.
>> Processed meats: This is anything from packaged lunch meat to hot dogs. Have you ever actually read the ingredient list?! It is full of chemicals, salt, fat and cholesterol. The chemicals in them are linked to an increased risk of colon cancer!
>> Frozen meals: You may think these are not as bad as fast food, but often it's just as bad or worse. Most have smaller portions, which could be good, but if you look closely at the nutrition label you will find some of these meals have extreme high calories and more salt than you need in a week! Choose wisely.
>> Doughnuts: All I can say about this is RUN! Doughnuts have refined flour, sugar and trans fats, not to mention 300-ish calories, and empty calories at that!
>> Potato chips: You know these are bad, but do you really know how bad? What you may not know is potato chips, (along with French fries), contain acrylamide, a known carcinogen that is formed when foods are baked or fried at high temperatures. "I estimate that acrylamide causes several thousand cancers per year in Americans”, Clark University research professor Dale Hattis is quoted as saying.
>> Low-fat foods: Most of these are laced with salt, sugar and other fillers to make them taste good. It's better to just eat a little of the real thing people! At least your body knows what to do with it.
>> Margarine: Yes it’s true, we are lead to believe this is a good alternative to the real deal, but nope! Margarine is the king of trans fat and damages your blood vessel walls. Again, choose olive oil or another monounsaturated fat. Replacing trans fat with good fats could cut your heart attack risk by a whopping 53 percent.
>> Sodas: Each serving contains an average of 10 teaspoons of sugar! Talk about packing on the pounds! Consuming more than 2.5 sugary sodas per day significantly increases your risk of death from cardiovascular disease, as well as your risk of developing diabetes.
If all that is not enough to make you quit eating all that junk then I don't know what is! Time to clean out the cupboards and fridge! You do not even have to believe me, try it! Just see what happens. If you have questions please email me, I'm happy to help.
