A few weeks ago I received this email from one of my readers:
“Hi Sarah
Can you give me the top 5 waist whittler please? I need some whittling :)”
She gets points for the creative title and of course, giving me permission to share with you! I responded, but likely not the response she may have been looking for. This is what I shared with her:
SPOILER ALERT: All the crunches and planks in the world will not “whittle” your waist. I’m not going to give you a list of 5 core exercises to “whittle your waist” because that’s not how it happens. Not to say there is no benefit to doing core exercises – these are a must in any great training program, just don’t do them for the purpose of trimming your waist, you WILL be disappointed in the result! (or lack thereof)
Waist whittling is a lifestyle adjustment, but is totally do-able over a period of time….IF….you are dedicated. Ugh…lifestyle change sounds so not-sexy, doesn’t it??? It also sounds like a lot of work to most people, especially those looking for these results yesterday. But keep in mind, a quick fix is just that, a quick fix….nothing that will help you out long term.
Lack of consistency is the #1 mistake I see people making when trying to reach their fitness goals. When I’m talking consistency, I’m not talking 4 weeks or even 6 weeks, a lot of people have no problem staying dedicated for that long. I’m talking 3-6 months of real, consistent effort in building specific changes into your lifestyle. Guess what? Once it becomes your lifestyle, it becomes a lot less work, it becomes: just the way you do things.
You don’t have to do a lot to make a big change, you just have to do a few good things consistently. So in the example of whittling your waist, start small and just be consistent! Here are my top 5 lifestyle tips to “whittle your waist” DISCLAIMER: will not whittle your waist in 4-6 weeks 🙂
1) Drink lots of water
2) Reduce your intake of processed foods and foods high in saturated fat, replace these with lots of veggies
3) Exercise daily – nothing complicated, just move and get sweaty!
4) Build muscle – this will naturally increase your metabolism and contrary to popular belief, will NOT make you bulky
5) Metabolic Training (HIIT/High intensity interval training) – this type of training burns carbohydrate as fuel while you are exercising, but if you exercise at a high enough intensity, will create an oxygen deficit that causes your body to burn more fat for several hours after you finish exercising.
There it is ladies…the not-so-sexy-but-oh-so-effective Top 5 Waist Whittler!