Most Googled Health and Fitness Questions, Answered
How to get flat stomach/get rid of belly fat?
This is a common question asked by pretty much everyone who starts to exercise.
If you’re referring to trying to reduce body fat off your midsection, this type of fat reduction is called ‘spot reduction,’ which is the theory that the more you exercise a certain area, the more body fat you’ll lose from that area.
Having a flat stomach is, of course, normally associated with stripping body fat, however, it can also be an indication of how good your core is. When you work a muscle more often it leads to a firmer muscle making the skin and fat above it feel slimmer. However, this, unfortunately, isn’t fat loss. The way our body distributes fat and where it loses body fat is mostly based on genetics. This aside, exercising on your core will help with posture which, in turn, can help flatten your tummy area, just not body fat.
Using techniques such as stomach vacuuming/hollowing where you suck your belly button right in and contract your core muscles - doing this multiple times a day - keeps this area tight and ‘sucked in’ giving the appearance of a flatter stomach regardless of body fat.
As for getting rid of belly fat altogether that comes back down to the calorie balance equation; burning more calories than you put in.
Calories in > calories out = weight gain
Calories in < calories out = weight reduction
If your body fat is super high or if you’re in a calorie surplus, you need to pay even greater attention to the nutrition aspects of your training. Typically, we lose body fat on outer extremities first and then it moves towards the centre of our mass, as this is where the majority of our vital organs are. Therefore, one of the final places you will see a reduction in body fat will be the abdominal region, so be patient, it will get there if everything else is in check!
How do I get rid of my double chin?
Double chins are a mixture of genetics and the amount of body fat you have on your body. Some people naturally have more fat around the face and neck which can lead to more of a double chin look. If it’s genetic, there’s little you can do unless you go the drastic route of surgery.
People carrying a lot of excess body fat can see a reduction in the double chin look as they lose fat. But again, this is also genetic as how your body distributes fat is very individual.
When is the best time to exercise?
Any! Whenever works for you. Achieving fitness goals is all about consistency and creating habits, so it’s important to find times that work for you. If you see on a website that the morning is best for training, but you’re not a morning person, meaning you try but your exercises are sluggish and all you’re doing is thinking about being in bed, you’re not performing an effective workout.
Find a time that works well with your work and family life. If that’s 20 minutes at lunchtime or 30 minutes in the evening, then that’s great. Once your time is organised, the next task is to structure those sessions to make them the most effective to achieve your goals. Try to ensure that you target all body parts over the course of the week; bigger muscles require more energy, and why not try grouping exercises together to save on time? For example, perform 2 or 3 exercises for the legs and complete them back to back before you rest. Personal Trainers are the ‘mechanics of the body’ so they will be able to prescribe the most effective sessions for you.
Do you burn calories when you sleep?
Yes, you burn calories in your sleep. Even though your body is in recovery mode, it needs calories/energy to complete bodily functions like breathing, circulation, rebuilding muscle and any other necessary functions to keep you alive. The number of calories we burn depends on certain factors like gender, weight, how much muscle you have, how much exercise we’ve done recently, and our individual metabolic rates.
Can I build muscle in a month?
Yes, you can build muscle in a month, however, realistic rates of muscle gain will depend on fitness levels and gender. For example, a male beginner can potentially gain 1-1.5% (1.5-2.5lb) of their body weight in muscle mass, and a female beginner can potentially gain 0.5-0.75% (0.65-1lb) of their body weight in muscle mass in a month. For intermediate exercisers, the figures are 0.5-0.75% body weight (0.75-1.25lb) for a male and 0.25-0.375% (0.325-0.5lb) for a female. For advanced exercisers, the figures are 0.25-0.375% body weight (0.375-0.625lb) for a male and 0.125-0.1875% body weight (0.1625-0.25lb) body weight for a female.
How many calories should I eat a day?
Although this is a simple question, the answer can be complex. Recommended guidelines state that males should eat 2500 calories and females should eat 2000 calories. Think of calories being currency and that currency is giving you energy. Therefore, if you're using more energy, you will require more calories (currency). The more active you are, the more currency you have to spend, so the more you can eat.
The next thing you need to think about is the type of food that makes up those calories. Fresh vegetables, whole grain foods and good sources of protein (for example, lean, unprocessed meats or pulses like chickpeas and lentils) will give an excellent balance to fuel your body. These healthy, energy-rich food sources often have lower calories meaning that you can eat more, enabling you to stay full for longer with strong energy levels.
Fuelling your body with fast foods, high levels of saturated fat and processed foods, which are usually much higher in calories, means the food intake is less. You will get hungry more often and probably snack on more of the same unhealthy foods.
The key is to make small changes to your diet and to not change everything at once. If you have a bad day, don’t try to compensate by eating less the following day, just eat well.
How many calories do you burn a day?
Let’s start with how:
1. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) - The number of calories your body burns at rest
2. Thermal effect of food (TEF) - Relates to the number of calories that the body utilises throughout the digestion process
3. Thermal effect of exercise (TEE) - Relates to the calorie expenditure both during and following physical activity throughout the day
4. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) - Calorie expenditure during everything we do that is not ‘exercise’ for example talking, walking, mowing the lawn, cleaning, cooking, etc.
Total daily expenditure is a combination of all of everything listed above which, of course, vary significantly from person to person and as your body composition changes.
How many calories to lose weight?
To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you’re consuming. Of course, ‘calories in’ is all consumables and ‘calories out’ is everything you do in terms of exercise and Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). Examples of NEAT are walking to work, gardening, washing your car, playing with your children, etc.
How many calories should I burn to lose a stone?
It is estimated that to lose 1lb of body fat you need to burn 3500kcal. So, to lose a stone in weight, it would equate to around 49000 kcal.
1lb = 3500kcal
1 stone = 14lb
14 x 3500kcal = 49,000kcal
How many calories in an egg?
One large egg will have around 78kcal. This includes the whole egg.
How many calories are in a banana?
One medium-sized banana has around 105kcal.
How many calories do you burn walking?
How many calories you burn during walking will depend on your weight and how quickly/hard you’re walking. A person with a weight of 79kg walking at 3mph will burn around 250 kcal per hour. If the same person walked at a very quick pace of 6mph, they would burn around 370 kcal per hour.
Walking can burn more calories than you’d think and is a great way of helping you to lose fat/weight and tone up without feeling like you’re having another workout.
Can you lose weight running?
The short answer to this question is yes! You can 100% lose weight running! Just think, have you ever seen an overweight long-distance runner?
For any endurance-based activity, the main fuel you use is fat which is great for fat loss. Any physical activity is good and doing something is always better than nothing. You do not need to start running miles and miles if you haven’t done so before, just start with a 10-minute walk and build up from there. Set realistic targets for yourself. Running clubs are a great way to do this, as having a specific time when you're meeting others means you're less likely to put the telly on and talk yourself into running tomorrow instead!