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Dear Breakup Girl,

I have a flabby stomach and I tried situps but it's not working. Any ideas?

-- Maritza

Dear Maritza,

1. If you are interested in creating an overall health and fitness program that may, as a by-product, tighten up your stomach, then you are allowed to read this paragraph. According to Jimmie D. King, president of the New York Personal Training Institute, Inc. -- and Breakup Trainer himself -- your tummy may be home to two kinds of fat stores: "visceral fat, the deep, hard fat that shapes the typical beer belly and can be associated with heart disease and diabetes, and subcutaneous fat, the fat between our skin and muscles, that though not harmful, can look 'flabby.' Aerobic exercise done 3 to 5 times per week at 20-60 minutes per session, plus abdominal exercises [fewer slower abs-only crunches are better than a zillion momentum-fueled fast ones -- BG], may reduce the visceral fat, and the subcutaneous fat will best be shaped by a nutritionally sound diet:" eating small meals as hunger dictates and keeping them relatively low in simple sugars and simple carbs.

2. But since you are asking a relationship expert and not a trainer, I'm wondering: are you thinking that having a harder stomach will make it easier to get a date? 'Cause the ill truth is that it might. But the more important truth is that if you try approach #1 with reason #2 in mind, none of it will really work. I bet you look fine, Maritza. I may be reading too much into this, but hey, never hurts to be reminded: firm up the notion that there's more of you to love than you might think.

Love,
Breakup Girl

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