Fitness Tips

When I worked in a toll booth I would often get asked for directions. I would gladly help people if I knew where they were going. Often I would give clear directions and people would still ask questions like “but my MapQuest says to go here”.. or my gps is telling me to go this way. I would either stare at them or say "so why did you ask me for directions if you didn't want to follow what I was going to give you?"

Every year about this time (or earlier since I’m usually completely over the 100+ degree weather we’ve had for months in the Southwest!) I long for the crisp cool mornings of Fall, leaves changing colors, snuggling up in cozy clothes, and indulging in anything and everything pumpkin spice.

In Part 1, I discussed 7 warning signs that healthy habits are going overboard. The first step in moving towards a healthy mindset filled with self-love instead of body bashing is to recognize there is a problem. The next step is to adopt one or all of the following practices to change the focus from negative, discontentment, and unhappiness to a positive healthy self-image.

With the rise of social media and the internet, combined with increasingly extreme diets and fitness regimens, the line between commitment to health and obsession is being crossed more frequently. Although “orthorexia” is the technical medical term for being fixated on healthy eating to the point of damaging one’s overall well-being, this condition is not yet recognized as a clinical diagnosis (https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/by-eating-disorder/other/orthorexia). People with orthorexia, or in my hypothesized “gray-area” between healthy and obsessed, are often within a healthy weight range and “look” healthy but are hurting on the inside.

I get asked every day by men and women of all ages, what ab exercises are best to get a flat stomach? My answer is always the same - none of them. Yes, I'm aware that is not the answer anyone wants to hear, but it's an unfortunate truth.

So, if ab exercises aren't the answer to a flatter stomach, then what is?