While I was searching for the best way to get rid of my chunky midsection, I noticed that so Called Nutritional “experts” seem to disagree to what the best foods are that help melt fat away, plus gain overall good health.

I’m here to tell you that from my experience one of the most important lessons that I have gained has been that I don’t need to conform to any of the “fad diets”… low carbs here, low fat there type of ideas. I have always had ripped six pack abs, they were just hiding under a layer of stubborn, chunky body fat… not anymore! I think balance has been the key to my success along with eating a diet of unprocessed, nutritionally based foods. Let’s face the facts here; it’s the heavy processing of today’s foods that makes our system go haywire.

OK, here it is… the following is what the experts said for me to do, that I followed with great success:

1) Getting enough good protein in your diet is a good thing. Not only are you satisfied longer without wanting to knock over a candy store, but it’s the stepping stone to building and maintaining lean muscle. It’s said that the amount of lean muscle you carry is one of the main factors for controlling your metabolism.

2) Fiber is the next one on the list. There is a good source of Fiber in fruits, vegetables, and grains. Try to avoid refined sugars and refined grains, it’s one of the enjoyments that I had to knock out of my daily routine, and one of the reasons many people struggle with body fat. Like protein, fiber also helps fill you up.

3) This next one is, don’t cut fat completely out of your diet… little did I know, it can affect your hormone level in a negative way, plus cause cravings. The experts say “Try to eat enough healthy fats daily”. Once I found out what they were talking about, I was happy to follow. Some of the great foods that I like that have the fats the experts are talking about are: avocados (great on grilled chicken sandwiches), olive oil (when cooking), nuts (one of my favorite snacks) and eggs (perfect start to the day).

4) There are two things that I learned that were a little harder to follow, but I set myself a goal, and I was willing to follow it to the end. Many processed foods have the following good tasting, but yucky for you crap in them.

– high fructose corn syrup: in most sweetened products out there.

– artificial trans fat: margarines, shortening, and hydrogenated oils that seem to have made their way into most of the processed foods we eat today.

I learned that if I were to follow these 4 guidelines, I too could lose the stubborn fat that was making me hesitant to remove my shirt in public. There is so much more to share with you, but old age has taken a toll on my memory. I would like to share with you where I became informed about nutrition, and in turn, lost my flab covering my six pack.