Who wouldn’t want a midsection that looks like a cheese grater?

[This pic is for anyone stuck shoveling snow this past week. Must go somewhere sunny very soon!]

NOTE: I would’ve used the old “washboard abs” metaphor but I think it’s time to retire that one since anybody under the age of 30 probably has no idea what the hell a washboard is?

So to get you on your way to burning up the fat around your belly, here are five crucial fat loss tips to help your diet and exercise regimen for the new year:

1. No junk food…most of the time.

You may think this is common sense by now, but you’ll be surprised at how those few chips, sodas, and chocolates on a regular basis add up. NOTE: I just saw a cookie package that packed 125 calories in EACH cookie! Eat 4 and that’s about 25% of your calorie intake at 500 calories!

Great! Now what’s with the “most of the time” part?

Allowing a treat once or twice a week will prevent those all-you-can-eat binges. And besides, a loose eating day with a higher-calorie jolt prevents your metabolism from slowing down so it’s a good thing.

Also, a common mistake is to make a huge calorie cut all at once. Many people get so motivated to lose fat that they starve themselves right from the beginning. That causes your metabolism to slow to a crawl and your body thinks it’s starving sooo… it starts hording your fat and burning your hard-earned muscle instead. And that’s when you get so frustrated that you give up!

The lesson is to reduce calories gradually, and the first action is to eliminate junk food… most of the time.

2. Blame it on the alcohol.

Sure a few beers with the boys every so often won’t hurt, but if you do it regularly (happy hour on a Monday? Not good) you switch off fat burning. The reason is that your body burns off alcohol first – it becomes your energy substrate – so as you’re burning off the alcohol, what happens to the food you eat? It’s merely surplus calories going directly to fat cells. Yikes!

That means when you do choose to drink, limit the food intake.

3. Slow down your workout.

On at least one set of your exercises, lift the weight at regular speed but then slowly lower the weight back to starting position for every rep (three mississippis work nicely here).

Emphasizing the negative creates more muscle trauma, and that’s a good thing for fat burning. That’s because it takes energy to repair muscle damage. Your metabolism kicks into gear for the entire recovery process which usually takes two days or more after your workout.

So you’re burning fat essentially days after your work even while you sleep!

4. Cardio is ok!

There’s a time and a place for cardio and it’s right after your weight training. You burn off all the sugar in your bloodstream with 30 minutes to an hour of weight training. That means any activity right after immediately taps into bodyfat.

All it takes is 15 minutes doing your favorite cardio exercise to break open your fat stores!

5. Get organized.

Stop flying by the seat of your pants during your workouts and get organized. Find an exercise program and stick to it. Weather it’s strength training at your local gym or body weight exercises in the comfort of your home, it’s time to step up to the plate and get measurable results.

We’ve reviewed some of the best fat loss programs out there so quit guessing and go check them out here.