In the modern world, obesity has emerged to be one of the biggest problems. It not only makes you look bad, but also has severe implications on your health. If you are gaining weight, you may be on the verge of heart disease, elevated cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, sleeping disorders and so on.
Fortunately, people are more health conscious these days and realize the negative effects of obesity on their health. Moreover, favorite movie actors and rock stars with flat bellies also make an impact on a person’s psyche.
As a result, almost everyone wants rock hard abs these days. Besides an appropriate weight loss diet plan, you also need some other effective tips to lose weight and get abs. You must have heard about weight loss supplements, weight loss foods, rigorous weight training workouts and diet plans to lose weight.
However, contemporary studies have come up with various other ways to help you lose weight. This article discusses two best ways to lose weight in a quick period of time.
1. Reducing Your Fructose Intake
Fructose is a simple sugar or monosaccharide. The body can use this simple sugar for energy. Since fructose does not necessarily cause a rise in blood sugar because of the low glycemic index, it was once considered to be a good substitute for table sugar or sucrose. However, most of the nutritional experts and even the American Diabetes Association has changed its conception of this notion.
Is Fructose Bad for You?
It is worth mentioning that a small amount of fructose, like the amount present in most fruits and vegetables, is not necessarily bad for you. In fact, it is believed that a small amount of fructose in your diet can help your system process glucose properly. However, when you start consuming too much fructose at once, it may overwhelm your body’s basic capacity to process this simple sugar. Thus, most of it may get converted to fat. If you are looking for the best way to lose weight and get rock hard abs, you need to reduce your fructose intake. According to experts, around 10% of the diet comes from fructose.
What Happens When You Start Eating Too Much Fructose?
Most of the carbohydrates you consume come from chains of glucose. When glucose enters your bloodstream, your body releases a lot of insulin to regulate it. On the other hand, when you consume too much fructose, it is processed in the liver. In other words, the liver is burdened with utilizing fructose in your bloodstream. Therefore, it is unable to process it quickly for the body to use as energy or sugar. Instead, the liver starts producing fats from fructose and sends them to your bloodstream as triglycerides. They get accumulated in your belly, and cover your abs with a thick layer of fat.
Why is Too Much Fructose Bad?
Too much fructose is essentially bad for four reasons :
As mentioned earlier, it can cause accumulation of fat around your belly.
High amount of triglycerides in your blood can cause heart disease.
Fructose can stimulate certain aspects of your system to make sure appetite-regulating hormones are not triggered. Thus, you are left unsatisfied. This is the primary reason why excess fructose in your bloodstream is associated with weight gain.
According to some studies, excess fructose in your diet can facilitate insulin resistance, and even cause Type 2 diabetes.
What are Some Major Sources of Fructose?
As mentioned earlier, vegetables and fruits have relatively small amounts of fructose which can be handled by your body properly. The problem is caused by additional sugar in the modern diet, and the volume of fructose which has increased in recent years. According to most studies and researches, the blame can be pinned on high fructose sources like corn syrup. Manufacturers state that corn syrup is made from 45% glucose and 55% fructose. However, exact proportions have been revealed to be variable in many studies and tests.
For instance, a recent study revealed that most manufacturers use 59% fructose to produce corn syrup. Some brands even use over 65% fructose to produce corn syrup and other such products. On the other hand, sucrose or granulated sugar is still half glucose and half fructose. Therefore, in some cases, corn syrup has a lot more fructose than even regular sugar.
Due to the corn subsidies in most countries, high fructose corn syrup has become quite abundant and incredibly inexpensive. Many people argue that it has become very cheap since it has been able to creep into many different foods in the modern diet. This has a major impact on your weight and body fat.
The Difference between Corn Syrup Fructose and Fructose in Other Foods
Contrary to the common notion, there is not a major difference between corn syrup fructose and fructose in other foods. All kinds of fructose work in the same way for the human body. Whether it comes from cane sugar, corn syrup, strawberries, tomatoes, beet sugar or honey, it has the same impact on your weight.
Only the amount of fructose is different in various food products. For instance, a small cup of chopped tomatoes contains 2.5 grams fructose, a super size soda contains 62 grams and a can of non diet soda contains 23 grams fructose. In order to reduce your fructose intake, you should gather information about the amount of fructose in different foods.
Foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup and Some Other Sugars
In the modern world, almost all kinds of packaged foods have sugar added in some form. These foods contain a high amount of fructose. For instance, honey has around the same glucose/fructose ratio as high fructose corn syrup.
On the other hand, fruit juice concentrates can have a lot of fructose. Moreover, processing of these concentrates can strip away most of the nutritional value. Similarly, agave syrup also has up to 90% fructose. Before buying packaged foods, you should always read the label and gather information about ingredients.
According to some studies and researches, fructose can also be quite addictive. Most of these studies claim that a high fructose diet can be one of the major causes of obesity, low energy levels and stubborn belly fat.
2. Sweat It Out
Once you have managed to take an initiative and reduce your fructose intake, the next step is to focus on workouts. In case you have set a goal to reduce stubborn belly fat and get rock hard abs, you need to figure out what kind of workouts will be best way to lose weight for you. If you want to get in shape fat, utilizing a home fitness program can be the best way to lose weight. It can boost your stamina, adherence level and help you stick to the program.
However, most people are confused about the kind of workouts and exercise they should include in a home workout. It is important to understand that every exercise has a different impact on your belly fat. Therefore, you need to conduct an extensive research to gather accurate information. Fortunately, this chapter will help you decide what kind of workouts you can choose to lose stubborn belly fat.
Cardio vs Weight Training
While trying to lose belly fat and get rock hard abs, one of the hottest debates is choosing between cardiovascular exercise and weight training. This is exactly what we are going to discuss here. Let us walk you through every aspect of this debate so that you can easily get the facts straight about which workout can be the best way to lose weight for you.
This might sound strange, but every person already has six pack abs. Even when they are not visible, they are somewhere beneath a thick layer of fat. This is the main problem. A thick layer of fat covering your abs may force you into believing that it might be impossible to ever flaunt a flat stomach at the pool or beach.
Therefore, in order to reveal your chiselled set of rock hard abs, you need to focus on losing belly fat to the most substantial degree. With some core abdominal exercises like crunches and leg raises, you may be able to strengthen and define your abs muscles. However, unless the thick layer of fat has been melted off, you will never be able to see your abs. You need a better understanding of what works out for you, and which one from cardio or weight training would offer most benefits.
The Relationship between Cardio and Rock Hard Abs
The first step in the debate is to discuss whether cardiovascular activity would work best for you. Cardio training can help you burn a lot of calories. Therefore, it can assist in creating a deficit to lose stubborn belly fat. However, there is also a downside to cardio training. Most cardiovascular training exercises do little to incorporate your ab muscles into the movement simultaneously. Thus, you may not receive a lot of strengthening benefits.
In addition to this, unless you are doing high intensity cardio interval training, calorie burn can be temporary. Your body may quickly get used to your workouts, and you may be unable to burn stubborn belly fat. It is important to understand that the minute you step off the bike, elliptical trainer or treadmill, your body’s metabolic rate returns back to a standard level within just 5 minutes. However, this does not mean you should totally skip cardio training.
Cardio training is the best way to burn visceral fat and give your body a leaner look. Moreover, it not only helps you lose weight, but also promotes cardiovascular health. In face, cardio also promotes the secretion of essential fat fighting hormones into your bloodstream.
The Relationship between Weight Training and Rock Hard Abs
This can be the best way to burn a thick layer of belly fat and get hard abs. There’s no doubt that weight training wins the debate. Another nice thing about weight training is that it not only helps you see abdominal muscles faster, but also reshapes the rest of your body. With a high intensity cardio training, you can lose weight and get leaner. However, you’ll look similar to what you look now.
In simple terms, weight training creates a whole new you. It allows you to be defined and muscular. Moreover, your body will become a fat fighting machine. With more muscle, you will be more resistant to fat gain in future. Your high metabolic rate will burn your stubborn belly fat much faster, and allow you to stay lean for many more years down the road.
Which One Should You Choose?
Although the verdict seems clear, it is not that simple. If you are trying to look leaner and get rock hard abs quickly, you may have to choose either cardio or weight training. In this condition, weight training will be a clear winner. No other variety of workouts can be more effective. However, if you want to get rock hard abs and strengthen your core muscles while improving your overall health, cardio will be your best choice.
Contrary to the common notion, you do not have to choose between the two. A 30 minute cardio workout on alternate days combined with weight training for different body parts 5 days a week will be the best approach to extreme weight loss.
If you manage to follow the above mentioned two tips, then you would be able to losing weight fast and there is no doubt in this fact. However, you need to remember that if you forgot to avoid packaged foods with added sugar or working out regularly then you could easily regain the lost weight.
