With small dietary and exercise changes, you can build a faster metabolism, which will help burn fat from all over your body and help you lose weight without much effort. It is common for dieters or anyone trying to lose weight to have a certain area of the body they hope to target with exercise. Although it is not possible to “spot-reduce” a certain area, it is possible to slim that area by reducing your overall body fat percentage through eating healthy food and exercising on a regular basis. As you lose body fat, some will come from your target area. During your weight loss, you can do specific exercises to tone certain areas of your body, such as your stomach, arms, legs or butt.

HEALTHY DIET

Step 1
Drink plenty of water to keep your digestive tract functioning properly. This will reduce bloating and eliminate the desire for snacking.

Step 2
Incorporate fibre-rich foods into your diet. Fibre-rich foods include bananas, apples and dark green leafy vegetables. Fibre also keeps your digestive tract functioning properly by attaching itself to excess fat and flushing it out of your body.

Step 3
Eat foods high in omega-3 fatty acids such as beans, avocado, olive oil and fish. These fatty acids increase your metabolic rate, which helps you burn extra calories each day.

EXERCISE RIGHT

Step 1
Add cardio to your daily fitness routine to burn more calories for weight loss in all areas of your body. Go for a walk, run, swim or take an aerobics class for at least 30 minutes per day. The key to burning calories and losing weight is to get your heart rate up during exercise.

Step 2
Play your favourite sport. Get a group of friends together for a game of basketball, volleyball or tennis. These are activities that will help you burn calories while having fun.

Step 3
Tone your stomach by doing crunches after your cardio routine. Work your upper and lower abdominals by doing the standard crunch. Position your legs over to one side while doing the standard crunch and you will work your obliques. The reverse crunch targets your lower abdominals. The bicycle works your upper and lower abdominals as well as your obliques.

Step 4
Tone your arms by lifting hand weights. Do bicep curls, hammers, shoulder press, triceps curls and chest press. Start off doing three sets of 10 repetitions with each exercise, but give yourself a minute’s rest between each set.

Step 5
Tone your legs and butt with squats and lunges. Add hand weights while you squat or lunge to increase the intensity. Another good exercise for toning your legs and butt, as well all other areas of your body, is kick boxing.

HEALTH TIP

But before you do all this, be warned. To lose half a kilo of body fat, you need to burn 3,500 more calories than you consume. Healthy weight loss is 1 kilo per week. Set realistic goals for yourself and avoid becoming frustrated. Weight loss takes time. Stop immediately if you experience any pain during exercise and contact your doctor.