The Best Diet for Your Body Dilemmas

Despite your best efforts, weight in certain areas can seem impossible to lose. However, you can trim and tone your problem parts if you know how to specifically target them. Discover the secrets to solving your biggest body dilemmas.

Body Dilemma: Big Belly (Truncal Fat)

People with truncal fat have higher levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, in their body. Cortisol breaks down muscle, making these individuals hard-wired to store fat.

Obstacles: Extra belly fat slows down your metabolism and puts you at risk for heart disease and cancer.

Diet Solution: Concentrate on a diet of monounsaturated fats, which increase fat-burning and flatten your stomach. Start eating olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. Click here to quiz yourself on which foods will help to flatten your belly.

You also want to concentrate on eating whole grains and fiber. Studies show that whole grains help to trim fat from waistlines, and fiber will help with metabolism.

Meal Plan: Eat three 300-400 calorie meals that include whole grains and 2 fiber-rich snacks.

Fitness Solution: Target the belly by building core strength with the exercises below.

• Knee to Nose Planks: Begin by placing the elbows/forearms on the seat of a chair, and toes on the ground. This creates a modified (easier) plank position. Then alternate pulling each knee in toward the nose, with the goal being to touch the kneecap to the nose. The focus during this move is to pull the belly button in as deep as possible throughout the move.
• Sit Downs: Your lower back muscles were designed for support, not for heavy lifting. Maintaining awareness and posture in the lower back while slowly sitting onto a chair will strengthen the lower back for its critical support function. Advanced: Adding weight to the front of your body, like a gallon jug, will increase the intensity.