You Can't Spot Reduce Body Fat

I have recently been asked by a number of individuals which of the belly fat reducing gadgets, and diet pills that are flooding the market are best for getting rid of the stubborn body fat that can be extremely difficult to lose; my answer, NONE of them. It is not possible to do an exercise that will “spot reduce” body fat, no matter where it is on the body. You can do 1,000 crunches a day, but you will not see your abs until you eat properly, without a proper diet, you will never uncover the muscle that is hidden underneath your stored body fat. There is a fairly popular saying that is absolutely true; “abs are made in the kitchen.”

It is extremely frustrating to see the claims made by diet pill companies that claim a nice six-pack can be obtained by taking the “magic pill” they’ve created. You can take a boat load of cortisol, or other products that claim they will raise your body’s internal temperature, creating an increase in metabolism, and before you know it, you’ll wake up one day, and your abs will be visible. It’s a nice thought, but completely un-realistic.

Even more ridiculous, are the claims made by companies stating all you have to do is attach a neoprene belt around your stomach, sit on the couch, watch TV, and within a couple weeks, once again, your abs will magically appear. Just today, I read one of the ridiculous claims made by one of these products that has made millions of dollars preying on the desperation of individuals that are confused about how to get the results they desperately want. The claim; “our device can actually give the body a Stomach Fat Workout without the wearer doing any sort of active exercise routine. Our device uses Electric Muscle Stimulation or EMS technology, a method that involves repeatedly contracting and relaxing the muscles through the means of tiny electric micro-currents. It is difficult to think of a more convenient way to reduce Stomach Fat than a belt that gives your abdomen a workout while you go about your daily activities, but there are EMS products that can really do this.” This claim can’t be further from the truth, and when we stop looking for the easy way out, we might actually get the permanent results we are looking for.

If being healthy and having the body of a competitive athlete was easy to get, we would not be the fattest nation in the world, and everyone would have a “nice” body. The reality is, it takes work, but then again, anything that’s worth getting is worth working for. Hit the gym, and eat healthy, you’ll be glad you did.

How Exercise and Sleep Can Reduce Your Risk of Getting Cancer

Exercise is good for more than just your waistline. A recent study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research suggests that regular physical activity can lower a woman's overall risk of cancer – but only if she gets a good night's sleep. Otherwise, lack of sleep can undermine exercise's cancer prevention benefits.

Greater participation in physical activity has consistently been associated with reduced risk of cancer incidence at several sites, including breast and colon cancers," said James McClain, Ph.D., cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute and lead author of the study. "Short duration sleep appears to have opposing effects of physical activity on several key hormonal and metabolic parameters, which is why we looked at how it affected the exercise/cancer risk relationship."
Researchers assessed the association between physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE), sleep duration and incidence of overall, breast, and colon cancer in 5,968 women at least 18 years old with no previous cancer diagnoses. The women completed an initial survey in 1998 and were then tracked through the Washington County Cancer Registry and Maryland State Cancer Registry for nearly 10 years.

Out of those 5,968 women, 604 experienced a first incidence of cancer, including 186 breast cancer cases. Women in the upper 50 percent of PAEE showed significantly reduced risk of overall cancer and breast cancer. Among women 65 or younger when surveyed and in the upper half of PAEE, sleeping less than seven hours a day increased overall cancer risk, negating much of the protective effects of physical activity on cancer risk for this group.