How To Lose Belly Fat?

Belly fat is the number one enemy of weight loss enthusiasts everywhere in the world so the question- how to lose belly fat fast is very popular. This unsightly bulge had been linked to metabolic disease, obesity, and life-threatening heart diseases. Fat deposits in your abdominal cavities can crowd internal organs and hinder them from working correctly. Keep on reading and you will find the best ways how to lose belly fat fast!

Studies have shown that reductions in abdominal fat can increase your life span by years. It is because of this that people of all shapes and sizes should endeavor to have a small, fat-free waistline. The problem that faces all of us is just how difficult it can be to eradicate that lethal belly fat.

No matter how hard you workout, no matter how many crunches you struggle through, it never seems to completely disappear.

Even if you find that the numbers on the scale go down, the belly fat is always the last few pounds to conquer. Whether you are male or female, young or old, paunch, love handles and jiggly tummy are stubborn and nearly impossible to get rid of. Impossible, that is, if you don’t know the secrets to losing that unsightly belly fat. In order to lose belly fat or to lose weight fast in overall, we need to follow these proven steps:

1. Flip Your Nutrition
2. Track your Nutrients in and Energy Out
3. Rethink Your Exercise

Modern science and nutrition have made great strides in discovering how the human body stores and burns fat.

By combining new scientific knowledge with a traditional wellness mentality, belly fat is as good as gone. Before you can understand the secrets to ditch your belly fat, you need to know more about stomach fat and how you gain it.

Key Takeaways

• Belly fat is the most dangerous fat to have in moderate amounts and can increase your risk of developing life-threatening health conditions such as diabetes, heart attacks, and stroke.
• To lose belly fat, it is essential to flip your nutrition, track your nutrients in and energy out, and rethink your exercise routine. Tracking your calories and nutrients can help you avoid overeating and even reverse weight gain.
• Technology such as smartphone apps can help you track your nutrition and exercise easily. Additionally, by combining new scientific knowledge with a traditional wellness mentality, losing belly fat can be simple, fast, and long-lasting.

What is Belly Fat?

In scientific terms, there are two kinds of fat: subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is the fat stores found directly under the skin. This fat builds up on your thighs and buttocks, and while it may be unsightly, it is relatively benign when it comes to your health.

Belly fat is considered visceral fat and is the most dangerous fat to have in moderate amounts. It is called visceral fat because it invades the space between your organs or viscera.

Visceral fat is just as gross as it sounds. Even worse, it can be devastating to your health. Evidence suggests that visceral fat builds up your body’s resistance to insulin, which puts you at risk for diabetes.

Belly fat has been linked to depression, insomnia, and sleep apnea. It also plays a large role in the release of fatty acids into your blood stream, putting you at risk for clogged arteries and blocked brain vessels.

That means heart attacks, heart disease, and stroke, not to mention each one of these is a potentially fatal or debilitating condition.

Eliminating belly fat and the poor health and appearance that comes with it requires a lifestyle change, but the good news is around the corner! By changing your approach to nutrition and exercise using the latest scientific and nutritional information, losing belly fat is not only simple, but fast and long lasting.

Nutrition Tracking Means No More Over Eating!

The first step to changing your nutrition and losing belly fat fast is determining the amount of sustenance energy your body needs. All too often people guess how much food they need and eat more calories than their body requires without realizing.

This approach can slowly add on extra pounds without you even knowing it. These pounds add up, leaving you wondering how this happened! In this case, knowledge truly is power. If you know how many calories you need to eat, you can avoid overeating and even reverse the weight gain!

There are some very sophisticated formulas for determining the amount of food you need, but fortunately there are some really cool websites that offer free calorie calculators to help you figure it out.

I love the calorie calculator I found here, but make sure to try a few different calculators and see if the numbers fluctuate.

Tracking your calories and nutrients once you know what you should be eating is an important part of the process. It can even help you keep the weight off once you reach your goals by helping you keep track of how much you eat. The problem is that many people are turned off by the idea of journaling every single meal.

It can be tedious when you work long hours or you are constantly on the go. Fortunately there are some new technologies that can help you overcome this obstacle. The invention of smart phones has made tracking your nutrition and exercise easier than ever!

For instance, you don’t need to carry around a calorie journal any longer. Simply download a food tracking app on your phone. The best ones have food databases so that you simply enter the name of the food into the search engine and it provides the serving size, calorie info as well as the nutrient information.

I personally love using the DoFasting app for tracking my diet and exercise. It has a pedometer to track your steps (great for when you integrate cardio into your fat loss routine!) and a comprehensive food database that includes food from popular restaurant chains like Applebee’s, Chipotle, and Dunkin Donuts. For a list of some of the best tracker apps, check out this article.

Now that we have discussed some ways to track your food, let’s talk about the proven nutritional science that can help you lose belly fat!

Proven Nutrition Steps to Lose Belly Fat Fast

Nine out of ten individuals think that the fastest way to eliminate belly fat is with abdominal exercise. Unfortunately these people could not be more wrong! The most effective way to combat belly fat is with nutrition.

Belly fat exists only to store excess calories (energy) in the form of fatty tissue, so the goal is to reduce any overeating and imbalanced dietary habits.

As the best personal trainers are fond of saying, “flat stomachs aren’t made in the gym; they are made in the kitchen”.

Here are my top three nutrition tips for a flat, healthy stomach:

1. Knock off the sugary foods!

There are well known links between sugary foods and metabolic disease. Processed sugar, while perfectly fine in small doses, can do serious damage to your health when consumed in large amounts.

New research has found it to be so detrimental that some nutritionists are comparing refined sugar to lethal narcotics and other poisons. A diet high in sugar promotes visceral fat development, so in order to rid yourself of belly fat sugary foods should be the first to go!

This includes sugary drinks like soda, artificially flavored beverages, and specialty coffees like Frappuccino.

Luckily not all sugar is evil! Naturally occurring sugar like the sugar in fruits are perfectly healthy in moderation and can be a yummy addition to your belly fat diet.

Dried fruits can provide a quick boost of energy instead of a candy bar. Instead of ice cream for dessert, try a bowl of fresh fruit with a dollop of low fat whipped cream.

Sweet substitutions like these can cut your sugar intake in half! Fresh fruit with Greek yogurt is also a delicious alternative for sugary junk food snacks when you are feeling hungry. It also has the added benefit of helping you feel fuller longer.

It is important to mention that sugar substitutes are not the best choice on a belly fat diet either. Studies have shown that aspartame and other sweeteners can exaggerate the signals to your cravings for sugary foods! These sneaky substances have no added calories, but they can cause your resolve to crumble in the face of late night hunger.

2. Think high protein, low carb

Now that you have cut sugary foods from your diet, what CAN you eat? Nutritionists who specialize in weight loss recommend that the average adult consumes fewer carbohydrates (grains and starch) and focus on eating lean protein and veggies as your main meals.

Your body uses carbohydrates as the main source of fuel and stores any extra in the form of fat for days that you don’t consume enough carbs to sustain you. By eliminating the carbs in your diet, you will basically be signaling your brain to start turning to its energy reserves for fuel.

This means that eating less carbs burns fat!

Pasta, bread and potatoes are the main carbohydrate culprits in the Standard American Diet. All too often the foods we eat are primarily one of these three carb laden foods. Salad, steamed vegetables (non starchy ones) and dairy are all good substitutes for carbohydrates on a daily basis.

Skip the bagel and go for yogurt with fruit for breakfast. Instead of a carbs laden sandwich, opt for a salad topped with shrimp or lean meat for lunch. Dinner can include sides like steamed broccoli and snap peas instead of mashed potatoes.

When it comes to protein, the more the merrier! Lean meats and other low-fat protein sources contain amino acids and other compounds that promote muscle growth. Muscle burns fat, so the amount of muscle you have in your body determines how fast you burn off you belly fat.

By building more muscle you can actually lose fat around your waist faster! Protein can also help you feel fuller longer, making it easier to make healthy food choices on a daily basis. Once you have increased your protein, be sure to integrate extra fiber to prevent bloating and other digestion issues.

3. Chow down on leafy greens.

Leafy greens like spinach and kale are considered super foods for a reason! These dark green veggies are packed with vitamins and minerals essential to balancing hormones. Since hormonal imbalances have also been linked to an abundance of belly fat, leafy greens can be another tool in your fat fighting arsenal. But wait!

There is more.

Kale, Collard, and mustard greens are not only delicious sources of vitamins, they are packed with dietary fiber that aids in digestion.

The digestive system plays more of a part in weight loss than previously thought. Recent studies have shown that people who are overweight are more likely to have digestive disorders than people who are not carrying any extra weight.

Adding extra fiber to your daily diet can balance out many digestive issues such as constipation, bloating, and indigestion which can not only help you feel better, but also help you look skinner too!

Foods high in fiber have been known to be linked with lowering cholesterol and weight loss. The fiber binds to the triglycerides, rendering them useless before transporting them out of the bloodstream.

Foods high in fiber can also create the sensation of being full more effectively than low fiber foods. There are so many reasons to add leafy greens to your diet plan that you would be crazy not to try some!

Despite the new ‘kale craze’, some people are unsure of how to integrate these leafy greens into their cooking. Here are some greens recipes I really like, courtesy of Cooking Light.

Natural Supplements You Didn’t Know That Melts Belly Fat

Sometimes your diet could use a little help when it comes to kick starting your metabolism and burning unwanted fat. If you have spent years eating poorly then the new diet might take a long before your body gets acclimated naturally.

Cut the waiting time by adding metabolism boosting herbs to your diet and see the results you want much faster!

Here are some of the most potent herbal compounds for fat loss:

Garcinia Cambogia:

Garcinia Cambogia has a limiting effect on your satiety center. To put it simply, it suppresses your appetite. The result is that you feel full and be unlikely to eat excessively. If you are already on diet plan, this effect is an extra check to keep you disciplined enough to follow your plan.

The extract does this by increasing the level of Serotonin in your body. Serotonin is the primary neurotransmitter in the brain that makes you feel good. In low concentrations, serotonin compels individuals to eat emotionally or compulsively.

Increased serotonin concentrations have the opposite effect. Individuals with higher levels experience a heightened mood. The result is suppressed drive to react to stressful circumstances with food. As you eat less, the body begins to release stored fat to generate energy. In fact, independent studies show that HCA supplements increase fat metabolism (metabolism is the fancy term for break down) in humans.

As the body breaks down stored fat, it simultaneously ‘firms and tones’ your muscle mass. You can accelerate this dual-faceted effect by complementing intake of Garcinia Cambogia with regular exercise and a healthy diet. The extract does not only promote break down of stored fat, it also prevents the body from producing more fat cells. It does this by inhibiting the enzyme, citrate lyase.

Citrate lyase is essential for the natural biochemical process of converting the carbohydrate you eat to fats stored in regions that include the buttocks, thighs, belly, and hips.

In addition to disrupting this process, the inhibitory effect on citrate lyase also reduces the synthesis (production) of bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides.

Green Coffee Bean:

Green coffee bean is an excellent weight loss supplement, but not because it contains stimulants like caffeine. In actuality, green coffee beans contain compounds like chlorogenic acid which studies have shown will reduce fat absorption and accumulation of additional fat.

Green coffee extract can be added to hot beverages or cold (though it tastes much better added to regular coffee). The amount of green coffee extract you consume daily will be determined by the amount of chlorogenic acid in your supplement.

On average, a grown adult should consume between 120-300 mg of chlorogenic acid to get the weight loss benefit. Consume your green coffee extract before major meals for the best benefits.

Cayenne Pepper:

Cayenne Pepper is a spice used for cooking in many cultures worldwide. Made from dried red pepper, this spice has a little kick to it and enhances spicy food. It also helps turn up the metabolism, making it burn fat faster and more effectively!

The best part about using cayenne pepper is that you can add it to virtually anything! Powdered cayenne pepper can be used in cooking. You simply add as much of it as you would like! Some people even add it to drinks like lemonade to give the refreshing drink a little smoky spice. The more cayenne pepper you eat the more benefit you will receive.

Chamomile:

This lovely flower has long been known to have metabolism boosting properties.

It is also an appetite suppressant, which can help you avoid binge eating and other poor nutritional choices.

Chamomile is enjoyed best in a hot brewed tea. Sip on a cup of organic chamomile tea before meals in order to get the maximum effect. It is also delicious cold, but make sure not to load up your drink with tons of sugar that will negate the positive effects of the chamomile.

Herbal supplements are not a replacement for a complete balanced diet and exercise plan, but they can be the extra little something to help you see your results faster! They should only be taken under supervision of a doctor as they may interact with preexisting health conditions or any ongoing medications.

We have touched on food and supplements, but what about that pesky exercise? Working out to target fat loss is actually a lot less complicated than it may seem!

Burn Belly Fat With Cardio

Crunches are nice, but they don’t actually melt tummy fat. If we’re being accurate, crunches and other abdominal exercises strengthen your core and develop your abdominal muscles, but fat reduction cannot be area-specific.

Your body relies on genetics to tell it where to draw fat from first, so people who struggle through endless rounds of sit ups aren’t going to see a flatter tummy in the mirror (although their abs will be RIPPED underneath all that belly flab!) Ditch the obsession with crunches and start working out smarter to burn off your midsection!

The best plan of action is to get as many muscles moving as you can when you exercise and really work up a sweat.

Cardio and other exercises that raise your heart rate will cause your metabolism to spike and fat to fall off! A comprehensive daily cardio plan can help eliminate belly fat and trim down your waistline, but this doesn’t mean that you should hit the elliptical as hard as you can.

Extreme cardio work that causes your heart rate to spike extremely high can cause your body to become stressed and release fat storing hormones like cortisol that hinder your weight loss goals.

There is a target zone for your heart rate that will ensure that you can work up a sweat and lose the fat without over-taxing your system. In order to melt fat, cardio should be performed at 50-70% of your maximum heart rate. Think of it this way: On a scale of 1-10, if 10 equals the hardest and fastest you can run and 1 is resting or relaxing, fat burn happens at around a 6.

There are a few ways to track your heart rate when working out. If you are unable to get your hands on high end equipment or heart rate monitoring gadgets but you still want to melt fat with cardio, make sure that your cardio is hard enough to work up a sweat but light enough that you can speak out loud without feeling too winded.

You can manually check your pulse. This method has been around for decades, but the margin of error is pretty high, especially with sweaty skin and heavy breathing.

The most accurate methods or tracking your heart rate involve the use of a heart rate strap. This device straps across your chest and can measure your heart beats per minute in real time.

You can pair it with a cardio machine like a treadmill or elliptical as well as your handheld smart phone. This ensures that from start to finish your heart rate is exactly where it needs to be to melt the fat away.

Your weekly cardio should be about 3 hours a week. This can be broken up into six daily 30 minute workouts, or three really intense 1 hour sessions, whatever works for your schedule. I recommend the short daily sessions because they are easier to get through and keep you moving every day.

If you don’t like running in one spot on a treadmill, grab your workout shoes and take a nice long walk! By adding 30 minutes of low intensity cardio into your daily routine, you will watch the fat melt away within months!

Daily fitness also has the added benefit of decreasing the symptoms of depression and chronic disease, so you will not only look better, but you will feel great too!

Weight training and core workouts are also vital to weight loss, so make sure that they are part of your fitness plan. If you are unsure of where to start, seek out a professional fitness expert to help you create a fitness plan that encompasses cardio, weights, and core. As always, speak to your doctor before beginning any new diet or exercise regimen.

FAQ

• What is belly fat, and why is it a health concern?

Belly fat, also known as visceral fat, is the fat that accumulates around the midsection of the body, surrounding vital organs such as the liver, pancreas, and intestines. This type of fat is associated with an increased risk of various health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.

• What are some causes of belly fat?

Belly fat can be caused by a combination of factors, including genetics, lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise, and hormonal imbalances. A diet high in processed foods, sugar, and unhealthy fats and a sedentary lifestyle can contribute to the accumulation of belly fat.

• How can I lose belly fat?

The most effective way to lose belly fat is by making lifestyle changes, including a healthy diet, regular exercise, and stress reduction. Eating a diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods and limiting your intake of sugary and fatty foods can help reduce belly fat. Incorporating cardio and strength training exercises into your routine can also help burn belly fat and build muscle.

• Are there any specific foods that can help reduce belly fat?

While there is no magic food that can target belly fat, there are certain foods that can support weight loss and help reduce belly fat. These include foods high in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, and foods rich in probiotics, such as yogurt and kefir.

• How long does it take to lose belly fat?

The time it takes to lose belly fat depends on various factors, including your starting weight, age, sex, and overall health. However, a realistic goal is a gradual and sustainable weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week, which can significantly reduce belly fat over time.