I'm a so-so fit person, but I have a belly. Any good techniques to lose this fat?

You can do all the crunches you want, but your belly will still be there if you don't first lose the fat. By the way, it is perfectly natural for women to have a bit of a belly. It is not natural for women to look like Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell.

You say you're so-so fit. That leads me to believe that you only have a so-so training program. Are you doing aerobic exercise on a consistent basis? I don't mean three times a week for 30 minutes (the minimum recommendation). I mean five times a week for 45 minutes, sometimes longer. You should also be strength training at least twice a week, selecting exercises that recruit all of your large muscle groups. The aerobic (cardiovascular) activity burns calories while you're performing the exercise; that's why 45 minutes is more effective than 30 minutes. Strength training makes you leaner and helps burn more calories throughout the day.

Doing all this -- and let's not forget about limiting the fat in your diet -- will reduce the overall amount of fat on your body and in your midsection too. Treat your abdominals (stomach muscles) like any other muscle group and train them just two or three times a week. But train them hard. Here are five exercises that will help you get the belly of your dreams:

1. Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Fold your hands behind your head. Curl your torso forward until you feel the small of your back flatten out on the floor. Keep your elbows back. Use your hands to cradle your head and take strain off of your neck. Do not pull yourself up with your arms. Slowly ease your torso back down to the floor. Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down. Do 15-25 repetitions.
2. Lie on a bench. Reach overhead and hold onto the bench. Raise both legs in the air until your toes are pointing at the ceiling. Keep your knees slightly bent. Raise and lower your hips without lowering them all the way down to the bench. Do 15-25 repetitions.
3. Sit on the floor with your knees bent and hold your arms straight in front of you. Keeping your arms low, lean back until you're halfway to the floor. Lift your feet off the floor and extend your legs until they are straight. (Keep your legs low.) Hold for up to 30 seconds. Do 1-10 repititions.
4. Lie on the floor with your knees bent. Raise your legs so that your hips and knees are bent at 90 degrees. Place your hands behind your head, with your elbows on the floor. Twisting from the waist, bring your right elbow towards your left knee, and at the same time, extend your right leg. (Your left elbow should remain on the ground.) Complete the set on one side, then change to the other. Note: Do not alternate. Do 15-25 repetitions.
5. Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet together. Place your hands behind your head. Let both knees gently fall to one side with one leg on top of the other. Keep your elbows wide and curl straight up. Repeat on the other side. Do 15-25 repetitions.

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