Myth: Doing crunches and sit-ups will strengthen your core and flatten your stomach. 

Truth: You cannot spot reduce. A well balanced approach of cardio, strength and nutrition will help you maintain a healthy weight and make you feel comfortable in your body. 

My favourite conversation: “I do sit-ups and crunches and I eat pretty well. I don’t have breakfast but I eat a salad for lunch and meat and potatoes for dinner with a veggie.”

 I’m sure you have heard you need to keep hormones balanced in order to lose weight. I’m going to tell you how to get started on that path. One of the fat storing hormones is insulin. Insulin is released when our blood sugar goes up. Our blood sugar will go up when we have a meal. A meal high in processed sugar will spike your blood sugar as well as insulin. A meal more balanced with fruit as your sugar and some nuts and seeds or peanut butter will not create a huge spike in the blood sugar. Why does this matter? You can control the hormone insulin. Two easy ways to do this are: 

1) Eat a well-balanced meal with a complex carbohydrate, protein and fat. 

2) Eat more consistently. Eating balanced meals consistently will help stabilize the blood sugar. 

How can you decrease the excess from your stomach area? It comes down to decreasing your body fat. The less fat we have the more muscle definition you will see. What’s the easiest way? 

1)   Avoid processed foods. Any foods with added sugars.

2)   Eat consistently. Every 3-4 hours.

3)   Eat plenty of fruit and veggies.

4)   Drink plenty of water. Remove any juices (unless freshly squeezed) or packaged drinks.

5)   Eat complete meals and snacks. A snack with protein, carbohydrate and fat.

6)   Don’t limit yourself, choose the better foods instead of limiting meals.

7)   Trust the process. Results don’t come overnight. If they do, they will disappear overnight as well.

8)   Do strength training at least three times per week. 

Try following these eight steps for three months and let us know how you feel at the end!