Heather Picken

Q. Can you target specific areas for fat loss?

A. No, if a woman wants to lose belly fat it's impossible just focus on that area. Some women store more fat in their lower body, while others store more on their upper body (like the back and arms).

The truth is in order to lose fat in any area you have to focus on the right types of nutrition and training. I do find that over the years women that have more challenges in the lower body need to stimulate more blood flow to get their hips and thighs leaner.

Many times I will suggest doing more interval cardio and bodyweight plyometrics. If you have never heard of these, they are some of the best leg shaping exercises that really help you burn fat, because they are so intense.

One of the problems I find when women workout and they want to get rid of the flabby arms or whatever body part is that the intensity is not enough. In order to lose the stubborn belly fat you need to push yourself, and the more you do the faster the results you will get. Of course if you are new to working out, anything you do will seem like a lot, so just pace yourself.

Also, keep in mind that the more fat you have in one area, let's say it's your legs, that will be the last thing to come off. The key is to be patient and keep track of your progress by a cloth measuring tape. Measure that area every 2 weeks to see changes. If you keep working at it and are committed to the process it will happen.

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Q. Custom fat burning:
How to get rid of belly fat for good and lose weight around the hips.
I am small on top but heavy around waist ,hips and thighs so what program suits me?

A. If you are smaller on top one of the first things you should consider is to specialize your training program. Focus on shoulders and back to give your body a more symmetrical look. Having a nice built upper body will also make your waist look smaller. Work on these body parts 2-3x week.

The second part to lose belly fat and inches around the hips and thighs is to focus on your nutrition. If you want permanent fat loss you will have to know how many calories you are eating. If you are over your calories start cutting back 200-300 calories per day and add it interval cardio.

Cardio will be dependent on what your body fat is. When customizing programs for clients what I do is first take their body fat and other stats, then see what they are doing currently for both nutrition and training. From there I am able to give a program that is designed for them.
I monitor and track their progress and make changes if necessary every 2-3 weeks.

If you want success then you must track your progress without knowing what you are doing and where you started it will be impossible to get the results you want. Plus, I find that keeping a record of it, is motivating for women. When taking your body fat I recommend getting a professional to do it with taking at least 7-9 cites with a caliper.

For more information on how to create your own fat-burning program, make sure you visit my new membership fat loss community exclusively for women, where you can come and ask any question you want, exercise video library, fat loss articles, and cutting edge information on fat loss and health. I even have weekly "Ask the Expert Calls", where you can ask any question you want. (launching on Aug. 1st).
www,fatlossforwomen.com

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The Power Of Affirmations for Weight Loss.

What are affirmations?
They are short, specific statements said in the positive.

We have an average of 40,000-50,000 thoughts a day.

You become what you think about so if you're thinking " I can't lose this belly fat, I can't slim down my thighs,or I can't get motivated", realize that it's all in your mind. I came across this that you can actually install on your computer from Jeff Staniforth,

Q. By doing cardio exercise, strength and resistance training, could I lose both the visceral and subcutaneous fats?

A. First let's define what they both are-Subcutaneous fat is found just beneath the skin. Subcutaneous fat can be measured using body fat calipers giving a rough estimate of total body adiposity.

Visceral fat is fat that is deep inside the abdomen, around the organs. Visceral fat, unfortunately, is nowadays thought to be much more significant for disease risk than subcutaneous fat. Scientist have linked visceral fat to metabolic diseases like diabetes. For women, a waist size of more than 35 inches signals potential trouble.

Now back the the question if doing both weight training & cardio will get rid of both of these.
Yes, but it's only part of the equation. Nutrition is critical when getting rid of both of these types of fat. You can be working out a lot but if your nutrition isn't geared for fat loss then forget it.

What can you do? First, focus on what you are eating.

Reducing or eliminating simple sugars like sweets would be good, then making sure you take out saturated fats (ex. bacon and fatty meats). However, some small amount of saturated fats are actually good to help reduce fat.
Peanut butter and egg yolks. Too many women that go on no fat diets think that these are bad, but if you're diet is too low in fats then your testosterone levels go down which will but the brakes on fat loss.

Next, include EFA's (essential fatty acids) -fish oil can be taken 6-12 grams per day.

Total calories should be adjusted for fat loss, every woman's metabolism is different. You must be in a calorie deficit in order to lose fat. This can be done by cutting both calories as well as adding in exercise. If you have more fat both visceral and subcutaneous allow time for your body to reduce it. What happens is that where you store the most fat, is the last place that you lose it. You can't spot reduce. The good news is that if you are consistent and keep tracking and monitoring your progress you will be able to reduce it.

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Q. I'm 46 and do weight hard 2 x wk - how long and how many cardio sessions should I do I'm a good 28pounds over weight (as in fat not muscle)

A. This is a good question, and one that requires a little more detail.

First off, you need to have your nutrition in order before you start adding in more training or cardio.

First, determine what I call your "Fat Loss Calories", then from there stay at that consistently for 3 weeks. If you deviate then you don't know what is working and what isn't.

* You can create a free account on Fitday by going to www.fitday.com

I find many women get too impatient in wanting to see results when they don't even have a foundation first. Once you set this up the rest can be very simple. I would stick with your current training and cardio program as well.

Then after staying with your same calorie base for fat loss for 3 weeks, then it's time to monitor your progress. Taking your body fat to see if there is any changes in composition. If your body fat hasn't moved then you can adjust your program.

For example, if you are doing 3x week of cardio for 30 minutes each you could simply just bump the time up to 45minutes or add another session, so that you are doing 4x week cardio for 30 minutes.

I also want to add that you should focus on nutrition first before you start adding cardio and second would be weight training. I would recommend adding another weight training session, so that you are doing 3x of weight training.

The key is to keep monitoring your progress and tweak as you go along. If you stay with this formula you will see how easy your body fat can change to sculpt a leaner body.

Posted by Heather Picken at 2:05 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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I know you wanted to lose fat yesterday..and for some
that have a ways to go it can seem overwhelming.

I get many questions about not seeing results and
how to lose belly fat, get thinner thighs, and toned arms.

I find the problem is that many women try something for a few days then give up.
The key is consistency to getting results and being committed to the process.

This starts with your mind first.

You must first tell yourself "I know I can do this"
If you start out by telling yourself "It's hard"...then it will be

When I consult when women I know the one's who
will get results the fastest because they have already made
it up in their minds that they are committed to the process.

If you find yourself making excuses then you will stay there.

Then, you need consistency..this means staying with your program without making any changes. This doesn't mean giving up anything..but rather having a little more structure.

My rule of thumb is to stay with the same training and nutrition program for at least 2-3 weeks, then after you take your measurement and body fat if there isn't any change then you tweak.

Sometimes it takes a few week to get things going...and fat loss in not a linear process..meaning you will hit a plateau..so you have to know when to adjust.

Women's bodies tend to store more water and then there are hormonal issues which in the fat loss world it looks like you are holding on to fat..but it may be water.

Then there is an affect called the "whoosh" meaning you have been really on your program and nothing has happened...you seem to be smaller but the scale is still holding. Then all of the sudden you wake up one morning and look leaner. This is your body actually flushing out excess water. When you lose fat you sometimes hold pockets of water which is eventually released.

It is also important in losing fat to drink plenty of water which will aid in not only keeping you hydrated but losing fat.

This is one reason the scale is completely useless.

( This is what you should do with your scale)

Never go by success with the number on the scale. Measurements, body fat changes from week to week, pictures. and looser clothes are great tools to measure progress.

Stay with it and you will see how easy it is for your body to change..but only if you allow it to.

Do you need help with figuring things out and staying motivated?
Check out my system that takes you step by step

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