That's Fit

Walking is great exercise all on its own. It's perfect for most any fitness level and doesn't require any special equipment. But if you add a few of the following techniques to your daily walk, you can significantly increase the number of calories burned and burn some of that dangerous and unsightly belly fat.

CNN recommends one of three methods for putting the punch into your walking workout:

• Plyometrics: These moves might make you feel a little silly at first, but you'll be the one laughing when that belly felt melts off. Add moves like bounding, jumping, and skipping to your walking workout.
• Hills: This is easy if you live in a hilly neighborhood. Substitute about 25% of your usual flat walking route with a hilly one. If you live in a flat area, you can program a hilly workout into a treadmill instead.
• Intervals: Intervals are surprisingly fun. Just keep up your normal moderate pace for ten minutes, then speed up for one minute. Return to your former pace for three minutes, then speed up again for a minute. Repeat this three or four times, then go back to your moderate pace.
  
  

Check out the full CNN article to find out how to make these walking techniques work for you and get ready to blast that belly fat!

Belly fat doesn't just make your belt a little tighter -- it can be a risk factor for a host of conditions including certain cancers, stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. A recent study shows that belly fat can also be a risk factor for developing dementia later in life. In fact, it can be a larger indicator than family history.

More that 6,000 people were included in the study. Those with the most abdominal fat between ages 40 and 45 were three times more likely to develop dementia than those with the lowest amount of belly fat. According to the report, nearly 50% of American adults have an unhealthy amount of belly fat. And those that are at risk aren't limited to people who are obese. Many are at a healthy BMI or are only slightly overweight according to the scale, but carry their excess weight mostly in their abdomen. At this point, scientists don't know exactly what the belly fat/dementia link is. Theories include that belly fat increases the development of amyloid plaques in the brain (substances that are linked to Alzheimer's) or that dementia is linked to obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease.

When researchers asked a group of healthy, active men to cut their activity levels down considerably, something interesting happened. Though the men did not gain weight or noticeable fat, their visceral (belly) fat increased by 7%. Belly fat is the more dangerous type of fat because it surrounds the internal organs and is linked to cardiovascular disease. Exercise reduces belly fat, and according to this study, not-exercising allows it to return.

In addition to increased belly fat, the men also became less sensitive to insulin and their triglycerides also increased. All of these changes occurred in just two to three weeks time.

While the men were still healthy after the study was over, it's clear that exercise is an important part of a healthy life. Even if you can only manage a short or moderate workout, keep moving to help your body stay at the top of its game.

We've heard it before -- if you want to know the state of your health, turn your attention to your waistline. Waist circumference is getting a lot of attention as the new risk factor for future health problems, even becoming more popular than the old stand-by BMI. Why? That's because belly fat is thought to be more dangerous than fat that pads other parts of your body.

What's so bad about belly fat, or visceral fat as it is known? Researchers at the University of Michigan think they've figured it out. Belly fat, when transplanted into mice, caused more inflammation in the body and was linked to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Mice who received a subcutaneous fat transplant (or fat that sat below the skin) had less significant changes.

Now, you may ask yourself what fat mice have to do with your future health (And you may also ask, how exactly does one transplant belly fat into a mouse? But I don't want to hear the answer to that question, so...moving on...). Health experts think that similar changes occur in humans, and other studies seem to support that claim.

Belly fat responds well to exercise, so even if you're eating a healthy diet, add some activity to your day to whittle that waistline.

Ahh -- soybeans, soy milk and soy products are soooo good. There's nothing like adding some toast soybeans to that low-calorie salad dressing to give that meal some kick, right? If you're no fan of dairy, soy milk makes for an excellent alternative also.

New research out recently concluded that a soy may even prevent belly fat in women who have gone through menopause as well. So, soy can help you keep fat off in the worst place it could possibly collect? That's what the study is saying, although it's just preliminary data.

The study zeroed in on isoflavones, which occur in soy products and are structurally similar to estrogen. Hence, they bind to estrogen receptors in fat tissue. The study looked at 18 postmenopausal women, and the one who drank a soy-containing shake every day for 90 days gained less abdominal fat than ladies who drank a milk-containing shake every day during the same period.

Are you ready to bust out that soy shake every morning? Try substituting soy milk for even skim milk in that fresh fruit smoothie -- for starters.

Excess belly fat is a particularly dangerous risk factor for future health problems. So, if having a big belly is a bad thing (health-wise, at least) couldn't you just reduce your risk by having liposuction? No, say the experts. Liposuction removes subcutaneous fat that lives just under your skin. The fat that can seriously harm your health actually resides under the abdominal wall, next to your internal organs.

Reducing the number of calories you eat and increasing the number your burn is still the best way to get rid of that pesky abdominal fat.

LA Fitness audited fitness levels of 1,000 people in the UK. Now they don't say if the small sample is representative of the UK populace, but here are the pathetic results of this particular sample.

Fitness levels are at an all-time low. More than half the population cannot cycle for 20 minutes nor touch their toes. Sixty-eight percent cannot manage 20 sit-ups, while 66 percent avoid rigorous activity such as cycling, running or speed walking, becoming breathless after three flights of stairs.

Turns out Northern Ireland is the least fit. Half cannot sling home groceries from the market and an astounding 70 percent cannot touch their piggly wigglies. Probably a nasty combination of belly fat and tight hamstrings.