There is no one specific exercise that will make you lose your stomach if you are 20 pounds overweight. Sit ups and crunches will help strengthen the muscles in the area, but do nothing to burn the fat. And, belly fat is, at its core, fat. The only way to lose fat is to eat fewer calories than you burn.

So, one element in the fastest way to lose belly fat is to come up with a healthy eating plan. This is an eating plan for life, not some fad diet. When you yo yo in weight, you actually compound the stomach fat problem because you lose weight in other areas but you put it back on in the stomach area first. So, making a change in your diet on a permanent basis is key.

You’re developing a lifestyle, not going on a temporary diet.

Your diet needs to be concerned not only with the total number of calories but the kinds of calories. You need to take in at least 1 gram of protein per day for every pound you weigh. You also need some fat in your diet. A diet of 30:20:50 in the ratio protein: fat: carbohydrates makes a lot of sense for an overweight woman who wants the fastest way to lose belly fat. Fish oils are the best kind of fat for this purpose.

Next up is your training program. The fastest way to lose belly fat is by doing both weight training and cardio exercises. A study of overweight women showed that women who alternated between cardio and strength training every other day lost significantly more fat in their stomachs than women who relied on aerobics alone.

The best way to do aerobic exercise is high intensity interval training. This is where you do a two minute burst of activity at the most intense level you are capable of doing followed by three minutes of moderate activity. Repeat the cycle.

You will also want to track your progress. Not only will you be encouraged to see your belly fat decreasing, but if you stall or go up, you will be able to correct the problem quickly. It is a good idea to take your body fat measurements every two weeks.

The fastest way to lose belly fat is to develop good lifestyle habits. Once you lose the weight, your belly fat will come off.

Hotel rooms are famous for having large telephone directories, so why not take advantage of this! Simply use these large books as a weight and do some repetitions with them. You could even balance the book on your lower legs while doing some leg raises. Or how about sitting on a chair with the phone book between your knees and squeezing to stop the book from falling!

The phone book can be used to lift up and over your head and even to hold while doing side twists with your body. You could get very creative with just this one item!

See, there are some simple ways to keep fit when travelling that don’t involve the hotel gym. Another very simple solution is to simply take the stairs as much as possible during the day. By doing this you won’t even need to do a separate workout after dinner.

If your business trip is leaving you feeling stressed out then go for a nice evening stroll after dinner. This gets you away from the hustle and bustle of the hotel and allows you time to regroup. Walking any time is a great de-stressor.

Your bed can be used to do push ups against and a sturdy chair will allow you to perform knee bends and squats. Even sitting on the edge of the bed and performing shadowing boxing movements is a good workout in itself. This is also ideal if you are dealing with any type of lower body injury.

Lunges, calf raises, leg raises, arm circles, side leg lifts, sit ups, push ups and walking on the spot can all be done in a hotel room. You could also pack resistance bands in your suitcase and use these for resistance exercises while away.

Even though it is hard on your body to travel, whether you are away on business or on vacation there really isn’t any need to forgo your exercise routine. Most hotels have some type of exercise room and many today have a pool. Don’t forget there is always those dreaded stairs to help you burn off those extra calories you may have consumed during your visit.

3 cups water

3 large carrots

1 apple – core removed

1 avocado- pit and skin removed

Fresh ginger – small piece, size of tip of finger

1 can coconut milk

1 tomato

Directions

In a food processor or high powered blender combine all the ingredients till smooth. Serve with a basil leaf garnish.

You will need to have cable machine, which has two sets of weights (one for each arm). It is good to also have a mirror, if available, as this can help you to see your form to make sure you are executing the exercise properly. The mirror also helps people to keep you on track because it gives you the visualization to keep going.

How to perform the cable crossover

1. Get the appropriate weight for you and get both hands on the handles. Make sure that you are standing up straight, feet about hip width apart and hold your core so that you do not use it to help you with the move

2. Bring the handles in, pulling the weight in front of you so that you to the front of your chest. Make sure that your elbows are slightly bent so that you do not hurt yourself.

3. Bring your arms back but do not go too far back that it is a strain

4. Repeat these steps until you have completed all the reps in your set

Tips for getting the best results with cable crossovers

Even though you can increase the difficulty, it is important not to start out with weights that are too heavy. If you do not work your chest much, you will find that you need to start at a very low weight.

As with every exercise, it is important to make sure that you are breathing properly while you are exercising. You will want to exhale as you are pulling the weight forward and inhale while you are bringing your arms back.

Focus on your breathing and the muscles that you are working on while doing this weight as this will keep you on track if you do not have a mirror to look at.

It is important not to try and swing your body or your arms while trying to complete this exercise as this can end up causing damage to muscles. Cables are not as forgiving as dumbbells are.

It is also important for you to make sure that you are standing directly in the center of the weights so that you are equally working your arms. If you do not you will find that you can injure yourself and end up getting uneven results

If you do not want to increase the weight, but you still want to give yourself an extra challenge, you can just do the exercise slower. The slower you do the exercise, the harder your body has to work. Increasing your repetitions also helps with getting a greater challenge with the cable crossovers

As read above, the key to real bodybuilding is adding muscle mass to your shoulders to make them look bigger than they really are. The broader the shoulder the leaner you look. Now that doesn?t mean that you just work on your shoulder to get the v shape body you always dreamt of. There are certain exercises that need to be practiced to attain the V-shape body you always wanted. One of the exercises that work on the arms, shoulder as well as back muscle is wider grip lat pull down exercise. When you do wide grip lat pull exercise, it exerts pressure on your biceps and middle back, especially the triangular muscles on either side of the back, thereby helping you build a stronger back and also improve your body posture.

Learn how to perform wide grip lat pull down exercise:

Be it beginners or advanced body builders it is always advisable to start with warm up exercises as it helps you loosen your body muscles and prepare yourself for your main exercises. A warm up exercise mainly includes very light aerobic exercise for 10 to 15 minutes.

Once you are done with the warm ups, sit on the cable station above, which will have a long bar attached, suspended from the cable. Make yourself comfortable by taking a steady position using the pads above your knees. This will help you when you apply effort to pull down the bar. Now grab the long bar attached to the cable, while your palms are facing away from you and while your hands are a little more apart than your usual shoulder width. This will be your starting position.

Now from the starting position pull the bar closer to your chest. Let your shoulders remain downward throughout the movement. When you pull the bar, raise your chest and slightly push your elbows a little forward, forming a curl on your back to separate your lats.

As you exhale, bring the bars close to your chest and press your lats.

Now inhale and slowly push the bar upward, leaving it in the former position, while you get back to your starting position.

Repeat this exercise until the sets are completed. Each set should involve a minimum of 10-12 reps

Benefits:

If this exercise is done properly, then it helps you get a stronger and a broader back and also improves your body posture. If you wish to get a perfect V-shape between your shoulders and your waist then this is the best exercise for you. But remember if done incorrectly then it may hit you very badly instead of helping you get the shape.

First of all, you need to know about calories. Calories are the fundamental item in any weight loss program. The basic rule is that to lose a pound, you need to burn 3500 calories than you eat. If you want to lose a pound a week, you need to burn 500 calories a day more than you take in.

Not all foods are created equal. While Twinkies are banned on every diet, some diets treat food lose weight differently. For instance, Adkins and the South Beach diets encourage you to restrict your carbohydrate intake while allowing you to eat as much protein and fat as you want. The Mediterranean diet, on the other hand, encourages you to eat complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while limiting red meat and most kinds of fats. Both schools have their food lose weight fans.

The next thing you need to know about is that the time of day that you eat is important. The old saying “eat like a King at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner” is very true for people thinking about food to lose weight.

A big breakfast is a good way to start the day because it will keep you full through lunch. Having a moderate sized lunch and a light mid afternoon snack will keep you going through the afternoon. But how much energy do you really need in the evening? Most people watch television, read, or surf the internet after dinner. That’s why a light dinner is all you need. Also, close the kitchen after dinner and don’t eat for the four hours preceding bedtime.

The kinds of foods you have can also be a factor in food weight loss. Scrambled egg whites are a great breakfast base. For lunch, you can even eat out if you know what to choose. Any of the foods on the Subway “under 6″ menu are perfect. For dinner, try a broth based soup to start followed by a salad with low fat dressing. Have a small serving of meat with a larger serving of vegetables.

Of course, you are going to want snacks, and that’s okay provided that you know what is good to eat. Hagan Daas can even be on your diet, provided that it is their yummy sorbet. Chocolate Dream cookies can substitute for your favorite chocolate chip type. But otherwise, stick to fruit, pretzels, and vegetables.

Another issue to consider is how much sodium you have in your diet. Your body only needs about 500 grams of sodium, but most Americans have between 3000 to 6000 grams a day. All that extra salt leads to bloating and weight gain. Drinking 8 or more glasses of water a day can help to mitigate this problem by flushing some of the sodium out of your system.

The food lose weight connection is real. I encourage you to try to learn as much as possible about what foods really have in them including their calorie, carbohydrate, fat, protein, and sodium contents.