So how can a normal person overcome this natural tendency? How can I stay motivated with my diet and exercise routines? To get the answer I would first like to look at the causes, only then can we start to implement positive and more importantly, long lasting changes. What are the causes for a fading motivation or discipline?

Most people think they are too busy for exercise or healthy eating or that other activities are more important.

There is a famous story about a professor giving a lecture that illustrates this point about priorities:

A Danish professor was lecturing to his students at the University of Copenhagen. When the lecture started, he took a large, empty jar, and filled it with stones. When the jar could not take more of the stones, he asked his students: “Now, would you say that the jar is full?” They all agreed that it was.

Now the professor took some pebbles, and poured them carefully into the jar. As he shook the jar gently, the pebbles found their way down among the stones. When the jar was filled to the rim he asked the students if the jar was full now, and they all agreed that now it was.

When the professor procured a bag of sand the students smiled, for of course the sand could find room in the cracks between stones and pebbles. The professor now filled the jar completely up with sand.

“Now,” the professor exclaimed, “you must imagine that this jar represents your life! The stones are important things in your life, such as your family, your spouse or sweetheart, children, your health – those things which mean that even if you lose everything else, your life will still be full. The pebbles represent things that are not quite as important, such as your job, your house, car, etc. And the sand is everything else in your life.”

“And now look,” the professor said, demonstrating on another jar. “If you fill up the jar with sand first, there won’t be room for stones and pebbles. This goes for your life as well, if you use all your time and energy on small insignificant things, there won’t be room for the major, important things. Always focus on what is really important for you, which will give you a good life. Play with your children, take time for exercise and physical check-ups, so that you’ll always be in good health. Go out with your spouse or sweetheart, and still there will be time for work, to do the chores, and all the other pebbles and sand. Fill your life with stones – things that really are meaningful. Make sure that stones have the priority of stones. What’s left is just sand!”

Now the professor looked at his audience, took up a bottle of beer, and carefully emptied the whole bottle into the miniscule spaces between the grains of sand, the pebbles and the stones. Then he turned to his class again: “And the moral is: No matter what happens in your life, there’s always room for a beer!”

What we need to do, is make our ab workout and healthy diet a priority. Once this is done, the rest of life’s challanges and needs will fill in the spaces.

How Can A Jar of Rocks Motivate Us?

Distractions and time wasting activities are exercise de-motivators

In this high speed internet age our minds have become conditioned to quickly jump from object to object. In short, we are easily distracted. I highly recommend we turn of the computer, turn off the tv, and set aside a little time before our daily workout to rest in relaxed awareness. The focus can simply be upon our breath or something simple.

Once we regain a little more control over the monkey mind and it’s constant state of distraction out ability to focus will naturally increase. This will make it much easier to retain positive activities in our life like our daily exercise or workout regimen.

We often think nothing of spending hours each and every evening in front of the computer or tv. But somehow we still don’t have a problem saying “I don’t have time to eat healthy or workout.” This point is related to the first point mentioned above regarding priorities. Our minds have become so distracted the we may not even realize how we subtly fool ourselves with these mind games. We may actually believe that we don’t have time for the daily ab workout.

This has been part one of the series on motivation and discipline.

The Flex Belt is a specially designed training belt that sculpts and trims the obliques and central ab muscles. If combined with a proper diet and exercise routine, the result will be a flatter stomach and the coveted six pack abs.

The Flex Belt is made in Galway, Ireland by a company with a long history of designing Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) products and devices for the medical industry. The have been making EMS (Electric Muscle Stimulation) devices for 40 years and are a respected name in the industry. Their products are prescribed and used in 5000 physical therapy clinics all over the world. They have now focused on helping people trim their abdominal region and have developed an easy to use ab workout device called the Flex Belt.

The Flex Belt Ab Workout Machine In Action

The Flex Belt has been approved and cleared by the FDA. After extensive testing, the Flex Belt Ab workout system made it through the rigorous FDA clearance. The Flex Belt is the only one of it’s kind to get this FDA clearance. Through wearing the Flex Belt for 30 minutes each day, they gurantee a more defined and slim appearance of your abs.

What is so unique about the Flex Belt is that is exercises you! You can wear the Flex Belt while doing your normal daily activities and it will do the work. The Flex Belt uses EMS Electric Muscle Stimulation technology to trigger the nerves and abdominal muscles to flex and relax. This same Electric Muscle Stimulation technology is used by physical therapist to get the maximum results in their patients. Your job is to wear the Flex Belt and allow it to do the rest.

What makes this ab workout belt so intriguing is that they offer a full 60 day money back guarantee on the Flex Belt. They state that if used exactly as instructed you will absolutely be able to see the resulting change within 60 days. This is an unheard of guarantee in the ab workout and fitness -weight loss industry. The product is also supported and backed by the famous San Francisco 49′ers legend Jerry Rice. It’s been a long wait for amazing technology like this to arrive, I for one am very excited.

The Flex Belt – How does it work?

Flex Belt has three Gel Pads (medical-grade of course), that cover the abdominal muscles and obliques. Electrical pulses go out to key nerve centers and these nerves then branch out to contract and relax the abdominal muscles. This works the entire abdominal area since the gel pads are focused on the core nerves. While you are wearing the Flex Belt, there will be a little pulsing sensation and this will involuntarily cause contraction of the abdominal muscle groups. Your abs will tense up, and hold for a bit, then relax without you doing a thing. The contraction of your abs is 100% natural and without the strain on your back and neck like many other ab workout machines.

The age of ‘Star Wars’ like technology is here, and the Flex Belt is a prime example. We are indeed lucky people to have access to such ab workout machines as the Flex Belt.

Ab workout machine – Ab Circle Pro as seen on tv

I have always pictured myself having sculpted and well defined abs, but have often been extremely frustrated with limited progress towards this goal. This frustration and shame is compounded because I know how strong my core actually is. Advanced ab exercises such as hanging pull-up leg lifts have never been a problem for me.

This is one area where the ab circle pro excels. It gives an active cardio type workout to your midsection. The love handles, thighs, and whole midsection get a continuous steady workout which is exactly what is needed for toning and tightening as well as spot specific fat burning. This ab workout machine is really like a treadmill for your abs and midsection.

It’s nice to hear compliments from people about how I look better and lost weight. The truth is, I am not really stronger, just lost some excess baggage in the midsection and love handles. This never fails to bring an inner satisfaction and confidence that is confirmed each time I look into the mirror.

This ab machine, the ab circle pro, is not the ideal product for extremely overweight people. It also requires some dedication and commitment just as any other ab workout machine or ab exercise. There is no magic pill or magic ab machine that miraculously transforms our bodies. We need to combine healthy lifestyle and eating with a well rounded routine.

For a majority of the people looking at ab workout machines, the ab circle pro is a good choice. I really don’t know of any exercises or ab machines that match this range of motion and are so easy to do.  I also like that there is no strain on my back or neck.

If you are serious about getting a six pack and changing your body shape, all you have to do is make some small changes to your lifestyle. Firstly, the popular saying ‘you are what you eat’ is very accurate. You should make sure you are eating the correct number of calories per day and the right types of food. A healthy balanced diet would include having your five portions of fruit and vegetables a day,  plenty of starchy food such as bread, rice, potatoes and pasta. Keep up your intake of dairy foods as well as protein such as meat, fish, eggs and beans. As nice as they are, try to keep your intake of sugary drinks and foods to a minimum.

The benefits of lean strong abs go beyond the measuring tape

It is a common misconception that the less you eat the better it is for you to lose weight. This is not the case. In order to stay healthy men should consume approx 2500 calories per day and women, 1940 per day. If you are increasing the amount you exercises you may even find that you need to eat more than you usually do.

You should start by looking into the basic abdominal exercises. Develop a circuit of 3-5 different exercises. You should complete 10-15 repetitions of each exercises in sets of 2 to 3. Get some good music that will keep you motivated and enjoy the workout. For the best results you should also include a cardiovascular routine. High intensity cardio is best for weight loss (e.g. uphill running and sprints). If you are fairly new to exercises you should take it easy to start with. For long term results it is important that you try to enjoy your exercises sessions. If you don’t, you are unlikely to keep up the routine. Variety is the key, this will stave off boredom and keep you motivated. Why not ditch the gym one day a week and go for a run instead.

Improving strength in your abdominal area doesn’t just help you to look better, it will also help to improve your posture. This regime can also help reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. You can add years to your life by just taking a good look at your lifestyle and fitting the above changes into your daily routine. It’s not rocket science, all it takes is a bit of motivation and you will see the changes happen.

This Bikini Body plan combines strength moves with fat-blasting cardiovascular work to give you the sexy abdominal definition everyone so longingly craves. By following a strength and cardiovascular routine designed to hit as many muscles as possible, you are sure to get leaner much, much faster. Try to do this twice a week and follow each session with an additional 30 minutes of any cardio work you enjoy; such as jogging, skipping, biking or power walking. You will certainly be sporting a slimmer, firmer beach body in less than a month.

Tight 6 pack abs for a smokin bikini body

So what do you need? You can do these exercises in your living room so the main thing you need is a pair of 5lbs to 10lbs dumbbells, a sturdy chair and two cushions. You could substitute the dumbbells for cans from your kitchen cupboard. But a set of dumbbells is never a bad investment and they can be bought very cheaply.

1) Bicep-Curl with Elevated Leg Lunge – This works your legs, butt, abs, back and arms – Begin with five minutes of cardio, then stand 3ft in front of your chair with your back to it. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms by sides, palms facing forward, lift you left leg behind you and rest it on the chair edge. Slowly bend your right knee and lower into a lunge as you curl the weights up towards your shoulders. Lower your arms and return to the start, leaving your foot on the chair. Repeat this ten times, then switch legs and repeat again. Do these sets twice over.

2) Chop that wood - Works your legs, abs, butt, arms, back and shoulders – Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding one weight with both hands. Bend your knees and squat, bringing the weight down to floor level outside of your left foot. Stand up; bring the weight close to and across your body, then over your right shoulder. Squat again, swing the weight down towards your left foot in a wood chopping motion. Do these ten times, swap sides and repeat again. Does this set of ten twice over.

3) Kneeling to pray for a better body – This works your back, shoulders and the backs of arms – Stand with left side facing a bench, with a weight in your right hand. Lean forward with your back flat and rest you left hand and knee on a bench or hard chair. Let your right arm hang down to the floor with the palm facing in. Slowly pull your dumbbell up, pause, then lower your arm. Do 15 of these, then switch sides and repeat. Do two sets for each side.

Now take a five minute cardiovascular interval and enjoy a jog, cycle or walk.

4) Press that Chest – Works your arms, chest and shoulders – Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat. Lean back on a couple of pillows so that your upper back is about a foot off the floor. Hold a weight in each hand at your shoulders, palms facing forward. With your abs engaged to support your back, press your arms straight up and bring the dumbbells together, squeezing your chest muscles. Bring the weights back down and repeat. Do 2 sets of 15 repetitions.

5) Tricep Dip One Leg at a Time – Works your thighs, abs, back and the backs of your arms. Sit on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat. Place your hands behind you, fingertips pointing towards your feet. Straighten your arms to lift your hips off the floor and extend your left leg up about 45 degrees. Slowly bend your elbows and lower your butt towards the floor, without letting it touch, pause then straighten your arms to press back up. Do these 15 times then switch legs over and repeat. Do each side twice.

Seperate the fact from the fiction for your Ab workout

Let’s look at some of the commons myths about abdominal exercises and products related to them:

• Abdominal exercises to get a six pack abs: If you have a huge layer of fat sitting around your waist line, you definitely have to spend a lot of time doing high cardio work outs and full body weight training. You have to gradually increase your metabolism to burn of the fat and grow some muscle instead.

• You do not have any muscle there: There is muscle sitting in your abdominal region but it is completely surrounded by fat. So your goal is to burn off that unwanted fat first.

• Diet pill helps you achieve a six pack abs: Diet pills might work but the solution is definitely short lived. There are more side effects of these pills like diarrhea, deficiency, unwanted dependency on the pills.

• Complete cut down on carbohydrates: Carbohydrates act as fuel to your body for any sort of intense exercises which in turn is needed to increase your metabolism. You cannot completely cut down on carbohydrates; instead have some complex carbs with fiber such as veggies, oatmeal, brown rice satisfy your hunger and gives good amount of energy too to work out.

• Slow Cardio sessions: You do not need slow cardio sessions in order to get six pack abs. The whole point in doing cardio is to increase heartbeat rate and hence burn off fat. You can do a high intensity cardio session to achieve that too.

• Working out at the Gym everyday: This is the most common myth. If you do not give the right amount of rest that your body requires, your body would not respond to any of these work outs.  Maintain the right diet and even if you work out 3 days in a week, it should be good.

• Steroids: Steroids are anabolic hormones that help building the muscle and not really burning fat. So it is better to follow a good diet and proper exercise regime to get a 6 pack abs rather than using steroids.

There are several such other myths about abs workout. Do your research to get your basics about abs right and stick by it.

The following two exercises will help to get you started. Why not give them a try now?

Abdominal Crunch

Most people have heard of this exercise, even if they have not already tried it. This is an excellent exercise to help strengthen the abdominal muscles. To start you should lie on the ground with your back to the floor. Both feet should be off the floor and your legs should form a right angle. Your shoulders should be raised slightly off the floor as well.

You can acheive your goals one step at a time

Take a big breath in and at the same time you should take your knees in towards your chest and lift the upper body to an angle of 30 degrees.

When your elbows reach your legs you should hold that position for a second and then slowly return to the original position. Pause again and then repeat the above. Make sure you hold the contraction in your abdominal area the entire time. Don’t allow your shoulders to touch the floor as this will lessen the benefit of this move. Many beginners let their shoulders drop to the ground but for the best results you should follow the instructions above.

It is important that you don’t strain your neck muscles while doing this exercise. It will help if you can keep your chin up from your chest. If required you could gently support your head by placing your hands at your temples.

Double Crunch

The double crunch is actually a combination of two separate exercises. The crunch and the knee raise. This will help to work the lower abdominal muscles.

To start with, you should lie down on the floor (back to the floor). You would have your legs in the air and then bend your knees so that your calves are parallel to the ground. Take a big breath in and suck in that stomach. With your eyes focused straight up above, lift your body off the ground so it is about 45 degrees to the ground. Be careful you don’t pull your neck muscles. Hold that position for two to three seconds and then return to the start position slowly and gently. Each set should have 10-15 repetitions of the above. It is recommended you complete 3 sets.

First things first, get outside. Fresh air, even in the cold and rain, can really pep up your senses and make you see yourself and the world in a different light. Too many hours spent in front of a computer screen or television, starts to close down your mind and make you lazier and less-motivated than ever.

Motivation is the key to Weight Loss success

So now you are outside and filling your lungs with fresh air, it is time to get walking. Put your walking boots or trainers on and set off on a gentle stroll. Down to the shops, along to the river, through the woods or scouring a beach, just walk, clear your mind of the daily clutter and just breathe in the fresh air. Try to walk for at least an hour, think about what lovely, healthy food you could cook yourself for dinner and plan out a few meals ahead. Mentally prepare a healthy shopping list and when you return home, write it down before it goes out of your mind. When you get back home, pour yourself a pint of water, gradually sip it and enjoy the refreshing feeling it gives to your walk-refreshed body. Now make a mental note to try and drink at least 2 – 4 pints of water each day, as well as taking a daily walk.

You will be pleasantly surprised, within a few weeks of this routine, your clothes will be feeling looser, your mind will be more active but best of all, you will have greatly improved your self esteem.

Whether or not you like to step on the scales is personal preference, it can be a great motivator in kick-starting or maintaining your weight loss regime by proving to you that what you are doing is working. However, it has a major downside to it as well and this is the fact that lots of people get addicted to weighing themselves and start to do it every time they go to the bathroom. Your body weight naturally fluctuates throughout the day, you are lighter in the morning after a night of fasting and you will be heavier at different times of the day, dependant on whether you have just finished a big meal or recently visited the toilet. Therefore, using scales is recommended no more than once per week to accurately measure your weight loss on a realistic basis. You should also try not to be disheartened if you find you have not lost any weight or have indeed put on; just make the extra effort to do better next time.

The great thing about working on your abs is that it actually takes very little effort to yield surprising results.

You too can have ripped abs

You’ve suffered your wake up call, so now is the time to realise you control your own ab definition and you alone can work to improve it. Get started right now by following these exercises to work out your abdominals. Try to do ten reps of each exercise 4 or 5 times a week. You will begin to see results within a month.

Ab Workout for Upper Abdominals

Lie flat, bend your knees and tuck your feet under something to keep them down. Fold your hands across your chest and gently tuck your chin in. This will lift the back of your head up.

Continue this into a roll until your back is vertical and your chest is against your knees. Pause, then roll back, placing one vertebra at a time on the surface until your head is back down on the mat. Do 10 reps.

Ab Workout for Lower Abdominals

Lie flat on your back. Bend your knees and cross your feet at the ankles. Reach back over your head and slide your hands under something weighty to lock them down  and resist your weight as you lift. Bring your knees up until your upper legs are perpendicular to the surface with which your lower legs are parallel.

Pause for a second to make sure you are balanced and stable and then thrust your lower body straight up towards the ceiling. Your buttocks will follow your knees and feet and you’ll feel the lower abdominals engage.

When you’re up as far as  you can go and you’re up on your shoulders, roll back down ever so slightly. Pause and then return slowly to a sitting position. Remember to keep your knees bent and avoid arching your back. There is no need to rest between repetitions. Use a folded towel or a mat under your bottom if you’re uncomfortable.

Ab Workout for Oblique Abdominals

Lie flat on a surface. Bend your knees and tuck your feet under something to keep them down. Fold your hands across your chest.

Tuck your chin towards your chest. Rotate your torso to one side. Roll up slowly until you’re upright. Use a folded towel or a mat under your bottom if you’re uncomfortable.

Pause and then, still in rotation, roll back down, placing one vertebra at a time on the surface until your back is on the floor. Pause, then rotate to the opposite side and begin an upward roll.

If you fail to address the issue of losing whatever belly fat you may have, your abdominal workouts, even though you still are strengthening those stomach muscles, will soon become tedious and boring. And when that happens, you will give up and quit. It won’t matter how many different exercises you do or how much you invest in exercise equipment: if you don’t make a concerted effort to lose the belly fat, all of your efforts will go to waste.

Lose the spare tire for six pack abs

Hopefully, by now, you are asking yourself the “How do I start losing my belly fat so that my abdominal workouts give me what I want?” question. Glad you asked! Let’s take a look at some simple tips that will help you achieve that goal. Now remember, you’ve probably have heard about most of these before, but at this point, it certainly can’t hurt to hear about them again.

First, let’s look at some things that you don’t want to do. The first piece of advice is simple. Don’t think that by starving yourself you’ll be any closer to losing fat! In fact, your body will do just the opposite and start storing even more fat. Along with that, if you start to drastically reduce the amount of calories you consume, not only will you notice a lack of energy to do your abdominal workouts effectively but once again, you slow down the metabolic rate of your body: not good when you want to lose that fat! And, of course, don’t expect results quickly. You need to have patience to see results. Got it? Good.

Now, let’s cover some tips on how to lose your belly fat. Once again, most are common sense tips but have been found to be highly effective when coupled with good abdominal workouts to help you finally shed that fat around your middle. First of all, let’s briefly refer to your eating habits. You know you need energy, so don’t skip breakfast. This meal gets your metabolism in gear for the day. Instead of 3 meals per day, try to do 5 or 6 smaller meals in order to keep the metabolism chugging along. Also, be sure to pay attention to the amount of sleep you get. Many studies have already proven that lack of sleep can fool the body into storing fat. Drink plenty of water and keep hydrated during the day.

You also need to add some type of cardiovascular routine to complement your abdominal workouts. It doesn’t have to be complicated though. A simple, fast walk 3 times per week to begin with would suffice. Make sure you break a sweat when you walk and challenge yourself, or you will get no benefit from it. The last piece of the puzzle to help you get rid of that fat is to incorporate strength training into your exercise routine. In, other words, weights (of course, that doesn’t mean that you need to go overboard: safety comes first and, should you ever experience any problems or think that something just doesn’t feel right, don’t hesitate to contact your doctor). Again, this doesn’t have to be complicated and no, you don’t have to become a body builder. What you accomplish with strength training is that you build more muscle tissue that burns fat! And that is your goal, right?

If you just stick with these common sense tips and develop the appropriate mindset, you will finally start to see the desired results from your abdominal workouts. What you will also find is that the more results you see, the more motivated you will become to continue your exercise routine. And most importantly, have patience. Your success won’t come overnight, but if you follow the above advice then rest assured, you will be successful!