Work through the flab

I learned something very interesting...for people with belly fat, especially excess flab everywhere like me...you can't do crunches and situps to lose weight.  You might have done those exercises and created perfect abs...a six pack even..but it's buried under flab.  It's important to do those toning exercises, too...but if you're strapped for time and energy...go with cardio.  Working your arms or doing resistance training on your legs will help build the other muscles that might get neglected when you're walking or running.

My big thing is that I hate when my legs rub together when I run.  When I concentrate on it, I mess up my pace.  What I try to do is use an old school thigh master while I'm sitting on the couch.  Wow, does it burn the inside thighs!  But it feels like a good workout.  And it helps with slimming down the thighs.


I found that after walking and picking up a pace of 3.6mph at a 2% incline (took me a few weeks to feel good enough there), I was ready to do some serious cardio to speed up the process...and that's when I found HIIT...which you can read about in another one of my posts.

I noticed the effects almost immediately.  The tire around my waist (just under my chest) shrunk...I lost 2 inches there.  The scale didn't move much, but that's because I was building muscle mass.

So basically...those quick burns from crunches are better than nothing...but if you've got extra flab...you're not helping much.  Find a cardio routine that works for you!