• Phoenix Woman Home Page
• Online Articles
• Health
• Melt the Muffin Top

Melt the Muffin Top

10 Belly Busting Tips

By Valery Lodato

How many times have you tried to bid your belly adieu? How many crunches, yoga classes or crash diets have you tried, all in an attempt to target those last five pounds? You know what we're talking about. It's that muffin top that laps over your jeans, and doesn't seem to go away, no matter what we do.

This fall, with the economic forecast still tepid at best, you might need to make do with many of yesteryear's pants and dresses, so here are some valuable belly busting tips from one of the Valley's top trainers, Jason Fine.

Fine is a 13 year veteran of the fitness industry and a guru when it comes to helping women get that pre-baby body back. He currently coaches and trains clients at North Scottsdale CrossFit, and offers private sessions.

We caught up with him for advice on banishing the bulge and the first thing he did was lead us straight to the grocery store. Here's his approved shopping list:

5 BEST BELLY FOODS:

Protein Takes Priority! Go for lean meats such as chicken and fish. Fine's personal favorite is wild salmon and suggests seeking meat sources that are fed what is natural to the animal--grass fed beef, for example.

Dark Green Leafy Vegetables. Fine's fave is spinach. Calorie for calorie, he says it's perhaps the most concentrated source of nutrition of any food.

Cauliflower is King. It's low in fat and carbs, but high in fiber.

Almonds are a great natural fat source. Also, look for California avocados, because they have more oil (mainly monounsaturated), and according to Fine, are generally more nutritious than Florida avocados.

Snack on Raspberries and Blackberries. Fine loves berries. They're low in sugar and high in nutritional value, while packing antioxidants and other phytonutrients.

5 WORST BELLY FOODS:

Avoid High-Glycemic Carbohydrates, in excessive quantities. These would include starchy vegetables, such as potatoes. Fine says they have little nutritional value and will spike your blood sugar levels.

Avoid Refined Sugars. They come in many disguised forms such as corn sweetener, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate and dehydrated cane juice.

Avoid Grains, in excessive quantities. Fine says they could suppress the immune system in some people, contributing to allergies and digestive disorders.

Avoid Dairy Products. According to Fine, dairy has been linked to health conditions such as migraines and irritable bowel syndrome and suggests his clients stay away, if possible.

Avoid Processed Food. This is tough, we know. Processed food includes anything in a box and made in a factory, like cereal, chips, crackers and cookies. A good rule of thumb, if you must buy processed foods, is to search for products containing the fewest number of ingredients.

"In plain language, base your diet on garden vegetables," says Fine. "Especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds," he adds, suggesting, "little starch, no sugar and everything in moderation." And, chew on this...?according to Fine, a whopping 80 percent of body composition is determined by your diet.

What about exercise, you ask? That's crucial as well, not only for living your healthiest life, but for anti-aging benefits. Many experts believe a healthy diet and exercise routine is truly the fountain of youth.

Of all the workouts available, Fine suggests cross training or high-intensity interval training to blast that belly, especially if you are short on time. He suggests boot-camp classes or CrossFit style because they are constantly varied--high-intensity with functional movement that really targets core muscles. "If you mix up your workouts creatively, you will see results," says Fine. "Routine is the enemy."

Infolink: North Scottsdale Cross Fit

Valery Lodato is a freelance writer who resides in Phoenix with her husband and two children.