Health & Fitness Q&A With Andrea

It is wonderful getting so much feedback from people asking all sorts of questions.
I always enjoy the opportunity to share experience and knowledge with so many great people. We are all on the same journey; we just sometimes take different paths.

So the first question I’m going to address is a question from LH:

“One question that I have for you is…although I do have a six pack, I seem to have extra baggage in my lower tummy. I do quite a bit of ab workouts and think that I eat fairly well/healthy. It seems like a never-ending battle. Are there certain exercises that will work on toning more?”

Great question!!! If I took a poll of readers, clients, fitness enthusiasts, this would be close to the top of the list. Let’s face it, we ALL have our problem areas and it just so happens that abdominal fat is one of the hardest to get rid of. The elusive six-pack, for most people is either never going to happen or maybe they were lucky enough to have a six-pack during their teens and early twenties, but can’t get that back after they’ve reached their 30’s and 40’s and beyond.

Does that mean we should give up? Of course not, but dialing down your expectations may be in order. For LH, I know she is as lean as is possible for her. She has nowhere else to loose fat. Being a woman in her 40’s with 2 teenage children, that little “lower tummy baggage” is probably not going away.

I know she already eats a healthy diet, and she exercises very hard, competing in various races as well as lifting kettlebells. The unfortunate news is that there is no such thing as “spot reducing”. Yes, you can do ab exercises till you’re blue in the face and develop a very strong core and you should. But it will not necessarily get rid of the lower abdominal pouch.

By the way, the funny thing about our “problem” areas is that no one but us even notice them. And if you are healthy, strong, lean and fit, be proud! Don’t compare yourself to magazine covers and fitness models that are #1 airbrushed, body makeup and special lighting, #2 eat so unhealthy and extreme they risk blowing out their adrenals and #3, many to most are taking supplements (some extremely dangerous) to achieve that level of leanness.

That is NOT a lifestyle choice of health; it is a lifestyle of vanity. That is a huge difference. We are born with certain genetics, I will never be 5’ 8”, I am 53 ½” (yes that ½” is VERY important to me), Make healthy choices of good food and exercise and enough sleep. Then pat yourself on the back and say “Job well done!”