No, You Can't Just Lose Weight In Your Stomach - But You Can Do This....

I frequently have people tell me they want to lose weight in one specific area, while keeping everything else the same. Unfortunately, our bodies don't work like that. You can't
tell your body where you want to lose fat and where you want to keep it.

When I started losing weight I was a 36D and had a lot of hips, thighs and booty. If I ha my way, I would have kept all of that and lost my belly. Well, kept most of it and just lost my belly.

Left: 2005
Right: 2014

But, when I started losing weight, I dropped to a C cup. And then [in what seemed like] one day I woke wearing a B! I'll be the first to say I was bummed. I miss my cleavage some days, but I don't miss everything else that came with it.

And don't get me on my booty. You see it!

Now it's waaay smaller. I've lost over 15 inches from there alone. Yeah. Believe it.

But before you get all bummed out - you can target those areas, by building the muscles - not holding onto fat. For the last few months I have been targeting my glutes. I wasn't ignoring all my other muscle groups, just hitting them a little harder and more often, to help them develop quicker.

My workouts consisted of a lot of squats & lunges to work on my butt. I was building the muscle, so that area"sits up." Some people do arm workouts because they want the appearance of muscles in their arms. The tricky part is that you have to lose fat in order for muscles to be visible and you can't really control where your body loses fat from first. .

So, unfortunately, my friends, you will have to lose fat from all over & genetics will decide where you lose it first and where you lose it last.

What's the best way to lose fat all over? Combining nutrition, cardio & strength training. Cardio helps to burn the fat, while strength training develops muscle and proper nutrition helps with fat loss and muscle development.

Nutrition, cardio and strength training are the keys for losing fat and gaining the muscle definition that you want.  

I really hope this was helpful! If it was, please share it with your friends, family & social networks. 

If you are interested in having me as your health & fitness coach, or if you are interested in what I do as a coach, email jamar.paige@gmail.com.

I would love to work with you to help you achieve your fitness & health goals or your personal & financial goals!

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3 Tips for Changing your Eating Habits

What you eat plays a HUGE roll in your health, your weight loss efforts and even your attempts to build muscle. It's also one of the areas that people struggle with the most on there fitness journeys. As you learn more about nutrition and as you learn more about your own body, it gets easier. But I see so many people on Facebook & Instagram who are getting started & seem to need a little help getting started. 

To help, here are my top 3 tips for changing your eating habits. 

1. Keep track of what you eat

2. Portion control 

3. Focus on eating more of the "good foods"

Number One: Keep Track of What You Eat 

This is important for so many reasons. One, if you are trying to lose weight, you have to create a calorie deficit. This just means you need to burn more calories than you eat/drink. The easiest way to guarantee that is to be aware of the calories you are eating. It's also important that you are eating enough calories because your body needs them. Apps like MyFitness Pal and LoseIt! take the guesswork out of tracking your food. They tell you how much you should be eating and help you reach those targets. 

Number Two: Portion Control

A lot of people completely cut out food groups when they want to lose weight. It isn't necessary though. You can still eat some of the foods you enjoy. It is important to learn portion control. The problem is usually that we eat way too much. If you learn portion control, you can still enjoy a variety of foods.

This might help: 

Number Three: Focus on Eating More of the "Good Foods" 

Now of course your diet cannot consist of a lot of pizza, hot wings, fried foods and sweets if you are wanting to be healthier or lose weight. But rather than dwelling on what you can't eat, think of all the things that you can eat. Build your eating habits around "good foods" and occasionally indulge in the less healthy foods. 

What are "good foods?" Meats that don't have a lot of visible fat, whole grains (wheat bread, brown rice, oats, etc), vegetables, fruit, yogurt, healthy fats (nuts, nut butter, olive oil, avocado, etc)

This might help:

I really hope this helps someone! If it did, please share it with your friends, family & social networks. 

If you are interested in having me as your health & fitness coach, email jamar.paige@gmail.com.

I would love to work with you to help you achieve your fitness and health goals!

Like us on Facebook!

Follow @spandex_and_sportsbras on Instagram!