Nice Abs - Best Abs Exercises For Getting Them Fast

People who want to have flatten stomach resort to all kinds of measures. Exercise and diet could be a great help in getting the sexy, flat and well-tone abs you want. You may actually wonder why a lot of people are obsessed in having nice abs. The main reason is that they abs are considered as the most visually appealing part of the human body. So, if one desires of having sexier body, they first prioritize in toning the abs. If you are among the millions of people who aim of having to-die-for abs, then there are numerous ways of achieving this. Most trainers suggest of doing proper exercise and eating a well-balanced diet. The most effective abs exercise known today are the abs crunches and the sit ups.

Doing this will definitely tone your stomach. Abdominals are the large muscle group that effectively responds to stimulation. But now matter how much you desire of having perfectly toned abs, you have to make sure that you do not overwork the muscles.

The muscles in your stomach also deserve some rest. Also, doing too much abs
exercise could aggravate the pain you feel in your lower back, pelvis, hips and other parts. Therefore, proper abs exercise must be done on a recommended pace. Once all these pointers are followed, you may little by little notice the great improvement in your body shape. With the new shape and look of your abs, people will always turn in your direction to admire your new abs.

The Perfect Diet (For Your Body)

"Sugar can be the willpower you need to undereat"?!? The fact that this ever made sense to people just shows you how reliable diet experts are.

Food and I, we go way back. And it hasn't always been smooth sailing. Sure the boob juice and I were muy simpatico but then my brother was conceived and I was bumped to formula. After that, food and I have had a tumultuous relationship. I've been a vegan, a low-carb meatatarian, and everything in between. Basically I have food schizophrenia. You remember Runaway Bride that reaaallly old movie with Julia Roberts? There is a scene where she has to decide what kinds of eggs she likes best: Deviled? Dilled? Poached? Scrambled with cheese? She doesn't know because all of her life she has let whatever man she is dating decide for her. So finally she sits down with 2 dozen plates of eggs and tries them all. (Side note: anyone remember which eggs she picked? I so totally don't but I hope it wasn't deviled because EWW.)

This is what I need to do with dietary advice.

All my life I've been following different experts as they tell me what to eat, what not to eat and what to look down on others for eating. Not only is my brain filled with a veritable avalanche of conflicting research and bold ALL CAPS quotes but there is a whole furor of emotion attached. This food is good. That one is bad. Those over there will KILL YOU. This causes me much anxiety over a subject that, frankly, ought to be a non issue. Food is fuel. Just eat what you need to survive and thrive, right?

If only it were that simple. The first thing diet - or, excuse me, nutrition - plans do is to separate food into good and bad camps. (Except for intuitive eating, duly noted.) The divisions are specific to each particular plan and are usually backed up by some kind of research. Almost always these plans are touted by a very persuasive expert who is 100% convinced that he/she is correct and that if only everyone would do exactly as they say the whole world would look like super models.

What I am convinced of, however, is that these experts have discovered a way of eating that makes their own bodies feel and look good but may not necessarily produce the same results in other bodies. In conversing with one expert, whom I won't name because I am now going to slam him, I said that I thought his diet failed to take into account hormonal differences between the genders. He replied, "A human body is a human body. If it works for me, it will work for you." I don't buy that. Granted, every diet will work to some extent for everyone - that's basic math - but I don't think that every diet will work the same for everyone. I truly believe that some people's bodies respond better to the Paleo way of eating while others respond to vegetarianism. (But no, Hannibal, I don't think anyone's thrives on cannibalism. Donner - party of 10! Oops, 9! I mean 8...) The trick then is to finding out which one works for your body at this time in your life.

And what a trick it is!

So last month when I started Lindsey's program, I decided to go all out in my weight loss efforts to lose those *(#$%& last ten pounds and make my diet squeaky clean. In my mind, this meant going with the most popular diet du jour - the lower-carb, high lean protein plan. After spending several years as a vegetarian I know that I don't like to eat meat but I bit the bullet and set up a nice little program that approximated the Zone proportions (40/30/30). Long story short: it failed. I spent half the month pulling my hair out and haranguing Lindsey as to why I had a calorie deficit of over 1,000 and yet I wasn't losing weight.

And then I gave up. It wasn't working. I was depressed about the whole subject. I just wanted to eat what I wanted to eat. But what did I want to eat? Fortunately at that time, the Okinawa Plan came into my life and in scanning the nutritional recommendations I discovered a plan that finally mirrored the way my body would eat if left to it's own devices. The book jogged my memory and I went back to my food and exercise logs to the time in my life when I was most happy with my body. Back when I was a "vegaquarian" eating no meat and very little dairy but lots of fish, whole grains, piles of produce and plenty of fat. (For those of you curious, left on my own I eat about 60/25/15% carbs, fat, protein.) Coincidentally this is also how the famously long-lived Okinawans eat.

Bidding adieu to my hated bag of boneless skinless chicken carcasses, I switched over to the Okinawan plan. This time though I resolved not to be "perfect." If I wanted a piece of meat - like I did on Sunday when we had ham to celebrate my sister's birthday - then I ate it. But 90% of the time I just want to eat my normal way. The results were immediate and gratifying. I lost 2 pounds that week but the best part was how good I felt! My mood was more positive, eating less fraught with anxiety and, like Heather (who eats almond butter) and also eschewed the high-protein diet in favor of carbier fattier fare, I saw improvement in my skin. I also noticed that when I eat this way, I don't need to food journal as the weight comes off on its own. Crazy!

You wouldn't think I would need to keep relearning this lesson but now I know: I am the expert of me.

So what have you discovered about how to eat so your body feels best? Anyone else super susceptible to experts? What is your favorite way to eat eggs?

February's Great Fitness Experiment: P90X

It's big, it's bad, it PUTS THE X IN EXTREME!!! (It also puts the yelling into infomercials!) That's right, after over a year of pleading from you guys, I've finally got a hold of a copy of P90X for a Great Fitness Experiment! At $140, this workout is a little out of my budget and sadly I'm not cool enough to get them to give me an evaluation copy but fortunately for me Christmas came twice this year. See, Gym Buddy Megan's husband Sensei Don got her P90X for Christmas and she generously offered to share the love (and pain) with me.

For those of you who have not been sucked into one of their mesmerizing infomercials - they're everywhere, even on QVC! - nor have been accosted by one of the many P90X devotees - they're almost as rabid as CrossFitters! - it's a series of 12 intense workouts and a diet plan designed to take you from Pillsbury doughboy to winner of the bake sale ('cause you're cooking beefcake!). You do a different workout each day, 6 days a week for 3 months.

In addition to all this, P90X has the one aspect in a workout that is like catnip to me. No, it's not buff shirtless men doing crazy pull-ups (although it does have plenty of that). It's a challenge. This is not one of those "it's so fun you won't even know you're working out!" workouts. This is a "I will beat your body into submission and you will lie in a puddle of your own sweat and thank me for it" workouts. Apparently in my mind, P90X is the dominatrix of fitness (my "issues" duly noted.) They even have a test you have to pass before you are authorized to do the workout! I love tests! I love numbers! I love elitism!! Seriously, the best way to get me to try a workout is to tell me you think I can't handle it. Strangely this tactic does not work with household chores.

The Gym Buddies and I did the test before January's Great Personal Training Fitness Experiment with Lindsey and passed, except for one thing: women are supposed to be able to do one pull-up. There was a time when Gym Buddy Allison and I would have snorted derisively at one measly pull-up. As they are wont to do, our newly born children have made us humble. None of us could get higher than halfway. But tonight as Megan and I did Day 1 of the program, I discovered that I could eke one out! (Yes, I jumped a little. I'm still counting it.) This is important to me because there was an incident in college where I got locked out of my apartment and had I been able to do a pull up onto our deck I would have saved myself the humiliation of having to ask the boys next door to break into my own house for me and then promise to wash their car in a bikini before they'd let me in. (Which I totally didn't do, by the way.) So thank you for saving me from future embarrassments Lindsey! After one month we will repeat the test.

Megan and Don are going to be playing the program straight, doing the whole 90 days and the diet plan - a high-protein low carb plan similar to South Beach. Myself and the other Gym Buddies are only committed for February. I will not be doing the diet plan (more on that tomorrow.)

Unfortunately, this is going to be one of those Experiments that will be very difficult to follow along with at home unless you own the DVDs or are willing to buy them. (Check your local library! Many have exercise DVDs and you might just get lucky!) But after you read about tomorrow's workout (an hour of plyometrics - my quads are burning just thinking about it) you may be grateful for that.

Any of you tried P90X? Have any recommendations/hints/warnings for me? Do you love arbitrary tests and challenges as much as I do or do they scare you off? Anyone else ever been in a situation where a pull up would have been a really hand skill to have??