6 Weeks to a Flat Stomach

You can get a flat stomach in just 6 weeks. No, really. It may have taken you, like me, around 10 years to pack on enough fat around your middle to be asked to play Santa every December at the office Christmas party, but what is wrong with expecting to move all that fat and more in just 6 weeks?

If you want a flat stomach in just 6 weeks, your best bet for instant results is to book yourself in for surgery and get yourself liposucked within an inch of your life. Honesty, nothing else you try is going to guarantee it for you in just 6 weeks.

The downside of surgery is of course, that it does not require you to change your eating habits or (lack of) exercise regime, so in a few short months and years, you will once again be on your way to a red suited and rotund no so merry Christmas.

Listen. If you want to lose the fat that lies on top of your stomach, you are going to have to put in some real effort to change your diet and exercise so that your body has the chance to do its best for you. It's a cruel fact that stomach fat seems to be the last fat to shift from your body and perversely it is the fat we tend to stress most about.

Losing stomach fat is easy. It will not happen in 6 weeks, but if you take my advice, it will happen. You need patience and determination and you will, like me, lose your stomach fat. Forever. If you really want to.

Start walking. Walk every day. 45 minutes to an hour is optimal. Instead of walking for 10 minutes today and 15 minutes next week and building your time commitment up, you should start as you mean to continue and try to set aside 45 - 60 minutes to walk as far and as fast as is comfortable now. Over time, your speed and distance covered will build up, but your time commitment will remain unaltered.

After around 6 weeks, everything will wobble less and the aches and pains of rusty joints and rickety muscles (yes, your muscles!) will lessen until you hardly notice the discomfort (a pessimist would call it "pain").

After about 3 months, you and others will notice your changing shape. This feels very very good, both physically and mentally. You will look forward to your walk and plan your daily diet with some enthusiasm and few lapses. Some deep seated aches will persist at the 3 month mark.

After 6 months, you will have developed an excellent fitness habit and your body will positively crave the good food needed to fuel your regular exercise. At this point, you will notice that your stomach is MUCH flatter than it used to be. It may not be fully deflated and as concave as a new moon, but the change of size and shape should give you the momentum you need to go the next step.

The next step is to get some resistance training under your belt (where your unsuspecting abs have been lurking undisturbed for quite some considerable time). Crunches and sit ups and yoga movements all target your abs. You just need to choose exercises that you can do correctly (with good form, as they say in the fitness magazines) and without putting strain on other muscles or body parts (especially your neck).

And that, dear reader, is how you are going to get a flat stomach. A lot of effort and commitment and surprise, surprise, no quick fix. But no rip off of your hard earned cash either.

I know, it's not what you wanted to hear. But it's the truth of the matter and it will work. Not only will you flatten your stomach, but you will keep the weight off. And isn't that what you really want, no matter how long it takes? What's a few months if you know you are going to get results.

Sweat hard and prosper!