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You
may feel you need to lose 10 pounds, but you may not have 10 pounds
of body fat to lose. The excess weight might be retained water or
flab, which is untoned muscle that needs to be firmed up through exercise.
As people get older, their stomach muscles weaken. The first step
is to determine if what you have is fat, flab or retained water. A
body-composition analysis using bioelectric impedance, administered
by a bariatrics physician can help you choose an appropriate course
of action.
Assuming your excess poundage is fat, the most the most important
thing you can do is to change your eating behavior. Fail to do so,
and no matter how much you exercise, you won't lose an inch.
If
in turns out that you have flab, the solution is to perform concentrated
ab exercises. You can do aerobics until you pass out, but your stomach
won't flatten unless you do some special exercises to tone up your
abdominal muscles.
Finally,
if you're holding water, the way to get rid of it, is to drink more
water. The more you drink, the more you flush out. The less you
drink, the more you retain. It's also important to avoid eating
foods that retain water. Any food that gets bigger when it cooks
is going to retain water. Pasta, bread, pop- corn and rice all enlarege
when they cook, because they are porous and spongy. If you pour
water over a fruit, it bounces right off. Butt if you pour water
over cookies, cake or bread, it soaks right in.
By Howard Flacks, M.D
Menfitness.com
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