Do I need to have a daily Exercise?

Any exercise is better than none. So if you can only fit in two days a week instead of seven, you’re still better off than walking for only one day, or none. Of course, if you’re only being physically active two days a week, more is better.

If you can squeeze in 10- to 15-minute higher intensity daily exercise sessions from Monday to Friday, you will not only decrease your potential health risks but you’ll also get fitter and maybe even decrease body fat over time. Here are some ways to sneak more movement into your day:

• The easiest way to get more active is to wake up 15 minutes earlier and exercise at home before you jump into the shower. Most songs are three to four minutes long. So put on your MP3 player and dance around your living room to four to five of your favorite songs.
• Most half-hour sitcoms have about 10 to 12 minutes of commercials. Vow to get up and move during every commercial break in one or two of your favorite evening TV shows.
• Find a step (the back door step, your front curb, the stairs in your house) and step up and down for three to five minutes four or five times a day.
• If you have an exercise machine like a bike or treadmill, jump on while you return phone calls.
• Don’t play cards with the kids—head out to the backyard and play tag, duck duck goose, shoot hoops or toss balls.

If you aren’t used to working out at a higher intensity, you should only do so for a short period—even as little as one to three minutes—and gradually work up to longer bouts of higher intensity exercise.

Is it true that stress causes belly fat?

Ab fat accumulates for many reasons. Most likely, it’s from eating more calories than your body uses. And for those more genetically prone to storing fat in certain areas, the extra heft may land in the belly.

The stress connection comes from research that shows that increased levels of the hormone cortisol are associated with higher levels of deep ab fat. Cortisol is a stress hormone. Many things can raise cortisol levels, from smoking and drinking alcohol to not getting enough sleep and being stressed out.

Recent obesity research has shown that abdominal fat, particularly the deepest kind, known as visceral fat, may function differently than fat in other areas of the body. Ab fat appears to be the most metabolically active kind—which makes this type of fat the most dangerous to have as it’s associated with high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes, among other health problems. But because it’s so metabolically active, it is also easier to lose than fat on your hips and thighs.

You can figure out if your ab fat is cause for concern simply by measuring your waist circumference. Men should aim for a waist size of 35 inches or less, and women 33 inches or less, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

If you do have excess flab, the solution is not to plop on the floor and do high repetitions of abdominal exercises like crunches or “core” moves like the plank. Those types of exercises strengthen the muscles in the area, but they do not burn enough calories to decrease the fat.

To reduce ab flab, the more cardio workouts you do, the better. General recommendations are to do at least 30 minutes of day of cardio activity, or up to 60 to 90 minutes per day if you are trying to lose weight or maintain weight loss. If you’re a beginner, always go slow and gradually work up to more intense and longer bouts of activity.