How many times have you tried to get rid of those pesky saddlebags, or flatten your stomach? I bet you've done a gazillion side leg lifts, or ab crunches in an effort to reduce these areas, and no matter how hard you work, they don't seem to disappear. Well, that's because there is no such thing as spot reducing! In order to lose fat off your body you have to reduce your caloric intake, and do cardio vascular exercise to reduce body fat.

If you've been doing all those crunches, you actually have strong abdominals, they're just underneath a layer of fat!

If you're trying for flatter, toned abs, for instance, the first thing you have to do, is look to your diet. Try to choose lots of high fibre food, such as fruits, and vegetables, whole grains , and high quality proteins. Then you must watch your portion sizes, and eat 5-6 smaller meals over the day.

Once you've got an eating plan...and remember it must a realistic plan that you can sustain, then you need to start a cardio program. Start with walking, or walk/running, cycling, or swimming for 20-30 mins. a day , 3-5 times per week. After you get going with your cardio, you should add some strength training to increase muscle mass. As you increase your muscle size, you have the ability to burn more calories, because one pound of muscle burns 30-50 calories a day, as opposed to one pound of fat, which only burns 2 calories per day!

Remember that I mentioned the gazillion ab crunches? Well, the good news here is that, if you're combining a good cardio program, and diet to burn off that unwanted fat, then you don't have to do a all those sit ups! Although you need to do some! A good cardio program , combined with a resistance program that trains all the main muscle groups will help you to achieve your goals...but remember, Rome wasn't built in a day! Getting back into shape takes a little time, but if you do it right, you can sustain it for a lifetime.