9
Apr

Been awhile since you hit the gym? Or maybe your bras just aren’t fitting right and have started cutting in and giving you bulges and rolls in all the wrong places on your back. Take heart! There are a few bras that hide back fat on the market that you can use to conceal bulges and smooth out any rolls to keep your back view looking great.

Probably the most popular smoothing bra is the Sassybax bra. These innovative bras were specifically designed to hide back fat and smooth out any rolls or bulges. Although they are a bit on the spendy side they are good quality, well designed bras that will last for a long time. Not only that, but they are comfortable to wear and they will give you a smoother back view so your back looks great in all your clothing. Here are the various styles of Sassybax bras that you can check out to see if there is one that might work for you:

** all bras available in black and nude



Sassybax Bralette


Sassybax Strapless Underwire Torso Trim Camisole Bra



Sassybax Torso Trim Camisole Shapewear


Sassybax Underwire Strapless Bandeau Bra


Sassybax Torso Trim Camisole with Underwire Shapewear


Sassybax Underwire Bralette


If you don’t see a style of Sassybax that is what you are looking for you should also check out the new “Bra-llelujah!” from Spanx. Spanx is known for creating shapewear that not only is comfortable but makes you look great too, and the Bra-lleluja is no exception. The back of the bras is made with hosiery and the straps don’t have elastic so they won’t cut in and create back fat bulges. Check out the different styles here:


Spanx Bra-llelujah! Full Coverage Front-Close Underwire Bra


Spanx Bra-llelujah! Soft Cup Bra

I hope this gives you a good jumping off point for finding bras that hide back fat! Enjoy!

Anne

5
Jan

One of the most common complaints that women have about their bodies is excess back fat. You know, that stubborn fat that bulges around our bras and leaves our backs looking…well…lumpy, right?

This article is dedicated to back fat - both how to get rid of it and how to dress to minimize it and get a nice, smooth back that looks more youthful and feminine. Let’s start with some ways to get rid of back fat and then move on to how to camouflage it in the meantime.

Now, the problem is that there is no “magic” exercise that you can do to specifically target your back fat. If you just work on building muscle in your back, the fat is still going to be there sitting on top of the new muscle which probably isn’t what you are hoping to achieve.

Rather than focusing on building muscles in your back, instead focus on decreasing your overall body fat percentage. As your body fat drops the rolls will go along with it, leaving you with a smooth back that looks great in any kind of shirt.

So how do you decrease your body fat? First, you should focus on boosting your metabolism through exercise - specifically through building lean muscle on your body along with doing some cardio. The more lean muscle you have the faster your metabolism will run which will make losing fat much easier.

To get the biggest boost to your metabolism try focusing a lot of your strength training efforts on some of the largest muscle groups in your body like your legs and backside. Doing squats and lunges both are great for building these muscles…just be sure to use proper form when you are doing them and to listen to your knees to avoid injury. With both squats and lunges when you are in the down position your knee should be directly over your ankle - not protruding out in front. If your knee is sticking out in front shift your weight back until it is right over your ankle. This will help to protect the knee joint and avoid injury. And just like with any exercise, make sure that you check with your doctor before you start so that you know it will be safe for you.

Doing arm, stomach and back strength building exercises will also help to boost your metabolism and should be incorporated into your workout. Several times a week you should add cardio to your workout routine as well like fast walking, jogging, riding a bike, swimming or anything else that appeals to you. The combination of strength training and cardio will help you to quickly decrease your body fat percentage and to say goodbye to back fat for good.

To see the fastest results, along with exercise you should be eating a diet designed to help you lose fat. Fat Loss for Idiots is a good one that you may want to check out.

Now, what to do about hiding back fat in the meantime, right? The good news is that you can camouflage back fat and get a smoother back before you start to see results from diet and exercise. Instead of choosing a traditional bra, try checking out Sassybax. These bras were designed to keep back fat from bulging around a bra and can really make a huge difference in the appearance of your back. Although they are a bit on the expensive side they are quality bras and last for a long time.

I hope these tips were helpful! Thanks for reading.

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3
Jan

Let’s face it, one of the hardest parts of losing weight is staying motivated. We all start out enthusiastic and gung-ho about how good we are going to be with our eating plans and exercise, but as time goes by that enthusiasm fades and we slowly taper off until we are back in our old habits again.

To successfully lose weight and keep it off for good it is really important to find ways to keep yourself motivated so you stick with your plan long enough to allow it to work.

These tips and tricks to stay motivated for losing weight really helped me (and still help me today) when I was losing. I hope they help you too!

Before Photos

One of the things I found to be most motivational was taking a “before” photo of myself when I first started out trying to lose weight. I won’t say it was easy to do, but in the long run I think it is what helped me the most to stay on track. In the beginning your before photo acts as motivation because it lets you see what your body really looks like (which was pretty frightening in my case!)

As you begin to lose weight your before photo stays motivational because it gives you a great reference point to see how far you have come. When you start feeling discouraged or like you want to give up snap a new photo of yourself and compare it to the before shot. You’ll be surprised to see how much your body has changed!

To get the best before pictures try taking them with as few clothes on as possible…like in a bathing suit. I know, I know…it can be pretty scary to slip on a swimsuit, but thanks to the advent of digital cameras at least you don’t have to take the pictures anywhere to get them developed, right?
:-)

Take photos from the front, back and side to get the best reference to use later to judge your progress. Use the photos anytime you need a reminder of why you decided to lose weight or when you need a boost to see how far you have come.

Photos on the Fridge or Cupboards

One of the reasons that I wanted to lose weight (aside from getting healthier) was to be able to wear some cuter clothes than I had been and look good in them for a change! To help motivate myself I cut out pictures of really cute dresses, jeans, and tops that I would love to wear and stuck them up on the fridge door and inside the doors of my cupboards. That way when I would go to sneak a treat I would be reminded of why I wanted to lose weight and it would help me to avoid temptation.

Try putting up photos of anything that reminds you of why you want to lose weight.

Keeping a Journal

You can try keeping a journal to track your weight loss journey. Write whatever you want in it - how your day went with your diet and exercise, how good you will feel once you have lost the weight, things that you want to do when you are thinner. A journal helps you to be accountable while at the same time helping you set new goals and achieve them.

Get a Workout Buddy

Having someone to workout with is a great way to stay accountable with your exercise plan. Usually if one of you doesn’t feel like working out the other will and vice versa. If you can find a friend in your area to workout with that is ideal. If that doesn’t work for you try going online to places like Self Magazine where you can meet others in your area with similar fitness goals who are also looking for a workout buddy.

If you have the time to care for a pet dogs also make great workout partners! Walking and playing with a dog is great for getting in shape. The best part is that playing with a dog won’t feel like working out at all. Just be sure you can really commit to taking care of a dog before you get one and choose a breed that has a similar activity level to your own.

Allow Yourself to “Cheat”

A lot of times we go on diets that are really strict and start to feel deprived when we don’t get to enjoy the foods that we like. Understand that it is OK to allow yourself to have a treat every now and then as long as you don’t go overboard. A lot of people set one day a week where they can eat what they want. Others have a small treat (like a Hershey’s kiss) each day to keep from feeling totally deprived.

If you have a bad day and totally fall of the bandwagon don’t beat yourself up over it. Instead, try to figure out what triggered you to lose it and overeat and then vow to get back on track the next day. Don’t let one bad day blow your whole diet.

Brainstorm some more ideas for yourself that will help you to stay on track and stay in the game for the long run. I hope these ideas gave you a good jumping off point!

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2
Jan

I don’t know about you but personally I hate to exercise. If I didn’t I don’t think I would have spent more than half of my life overweight.

Growing up I was terrible at sports and I dreaded gym class where the other kids would make fun of me because of my obvious lack of talent. These bad feelings about exercise followed me into adulthood and I just never could get into it. As a result I spent most of my time sitting around and packed on the pounds.

When I decided to lose weight I knew that I had to do some sort of exercise not only to speed up my weight loss results but to start feeling better and to take better care of my health.

I opted for walking for exercise because it was something I could do alone (not like a team sport or having to workout in front of people at a gym) and it was something that seemed relatively easy to do compared to a lot of other exercises but that still gave great results.

To get started I bought a good pair of walking shoes and a pedometer. I used the pedometer to motivate myself by setting a certain number of steps that I wanted to take each day. I would put the pedometer on in the morning and wear it to work, to the store…anywhere I went throughout the day.

Because I was trying to add steps I found that I started making little changes like parking a little further away from the store or making an extra trip to the supply cabinet at work. These little things really added up to a lot of extra calories burned.

I also needed to find places to walk close to where I lived. I found a beautiful trail through a wooded area less than a mile from my house that I never knew was there before so I decided to make that my walking place. In the beginning I would drive to the trail, park and walk it. As I got in better shape I would walk from my house to the trail and back home again.

I came to absolutely love walking on the trail because everyday I would see something new - a new patch of wildflowers blooming, a squirrel running across the path, the leaves on the trees changing colors or sometimes even deer.

My daily walks went from being a chore into being something I looked forward to all day - a way to escape from the stress of everyday life and enjoy the peace and quite of nature.

Over the years I have added other exercises to my routine as well. For instance, I ordered a video that teaches you how to belly dance because I thought it sounded like fun.

I close all the blinds in my house and dance away without worrying about anyone watching or how silly I look. It’s something that’s fun for me and that doesn’t feel like exercise which means that it is something that I will actually do.

If you are like me and you hate traditional exercises I would encourage you to try to come up with exercise options that you would enjoy. Think outside the box a little. Getting exercise doesn’t mean that you have to go to a gym and run on a treadmill.

Any activity that gets you up and moving counts as exercise and will not only help with your weight loss efforts, but will help you get in shape and feel great. As you add exercise to your routine each day you will start to have more energy, your concentration will improve, you will sleep better and you will just plain feel better all around.

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1
Jan

Most people know that grilled chicken is better than fried and that having fruit for dessert is better than having chocolate cake when it comes to losing weight. Basically, when it comes to dieting most people have a good idea of what foods to eat. The problem is, though, that they don’t know how much of those foods to eat. One of the major hurdles for losing weight that people struggle with is knowing proper portion sizes. Just how big is an ounce of meat or a serving of fruit?

Not only that, but how much of each type of food should you eat to have a balanced meal? The portion size dilemma becomes even trickier because most plates, bowls and cups are much larger than they used to be - especially at restaurants. That means that taking a plate full of food can easily pack on way more calories than you intended even if you are making healthy food choices.

Misjudging portion sizes is one of the main reasons that many of us pack on extra pounds and then struggle to lose them. On the other hand, it just isn’t convenient or practical to have to measure or weigh your food before every meal to know that you are getting the right amount of each food group.

Fortunately, there is an easier way to accurately judge portion sizes and quickly lose weight. One of the newest dieting trends is to use portion control plates. These nifty plates are printed on the front with the proper serving sizes for each food group. All you have to do is fill each section on the plate with the right kind of food and you have a perfectly portioned, well balanced meal. Portion control plates are great because they take so much of the guess work out of knowing how much of each food to eat.

Along with the printed portion control plates you can also get plates that are molded to hold each of the food groups. Each of the indentations in the plate is perfectly sized to hold the right amount of food, again making it easy to judge portion sizes with no need for weighing, calorie counting or measuring.

If you eat on the go and don’t want to pack a portion control plate around with you there are also portable portion control disks on the market. These plastic or silicone disks can be packed away easily into a purse. Then all you do is hold them up next to your food when you sit down to eat to ensure that you are eating the right amount of each.

How effective are portion control plates when it comes to weight loss? The University of Calgary did clinical trials that showed that people who used the portion control plates were 300% more likely to lose a significant amount of weight than people who used standard dinner plates when they ate.

In my opinion these plates are great for a lot of reasons including the fact that they teach you how to eat right. Over time you will get a good feel for what proper portion sizes are and how much of each food group you should eat. These skills can then be carried on throughout the rest of your life helping you to stay slim for the long haul.

Check out these portion control options to get started losing the healthy way today:

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