Losing Belly Fat
Since diets began this same battle has been fought time and time again: How can start losing belly fat without starving yourself or doing non-stop workout sessions? Can you reduce your stomach size without being skinny all over?
In days gone by and even up to the present day many dieters believe that targeting fat in one region of their body like their stomach doing endless crunches and sit-ups are effective. Unfortunately, this spot reduction is just a myth as losing belly fat without reducing overall body fat percentage is impossible. Despite this, the good news is losing belly fat and making your tummy flatter with the correct combination of motion and diet is possible.
Essential Foods To Losing Belly Fat
It is no secret that certain foods encourage fat to sit around your waist and some other types actually reduce tummy fat. The amount you eat is not the only factor to consider when losing belly fat as the type of foods eaten also have a significant effect on the size of your waistline.
A good example of this are the chemicals we take in and certain foods that can put stress on our bodies. Two of the most common substances acting as stimulants to our bodies are Nicotine and of course Caffeine. When we ingest them our blood pressure and heart rate increases and the problem with that is our bodies see these reactions as a sign of danger. The brain cleverly goes into self-preservation mode and triggers the release of cortisone, a stress hormone which tells the body keep some calories ‘in the bank’ and promotes it to store fat in the abdomen.
This Cortisol is responsible for extra fat storage, particularly around the waist. This type of fat doesn’t just look unattractive, it is in fact especially dangerous. It has been linked to cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
The human body will produce insulin in order to utilize glucose and this insulin production can add to the problem of difficulty losing belly fat. Many people report feeling hungrier after eating food that contain artificial sweeteners, this is caused by sweet flavors triggering insulin release even when the blood glucose levels are normal or even lower than normal. Then this insulin will reduce the blood glucose levels and thus make the body very hungry. This can then leave to excessive over eating which is obviously counter productive to losing belly fat.
Choosing foods that don’t promote this release of insulin and trigger the body into self-preservation mode are obviously best to losing belly fat. Eating slowly digestible, nutritious foods like whole grain pastas and breads, whole nuts, fibrous fruit and vegetables, tofu or lean meat, avocados and olive oil are ideal and essential to losing belly fat.
Giving up caffeine is a tough one for most of us, so if you find it a bridge too far try switching to green tea instead. There is enough caffeine in green tea to give you a ‘lift’ plus it includes phytonutrients that provide other health benefits and the best thing of all it will also speed up your metabolism and in the battle of losing belly fat a fast metabolism is worth it’s weight in gold!
Exercises for Losing Belly Fat
When looking at losing belly fat what you put into your body is only one side of the equation. Unfortunatly motion is equally important and you will need to exercise. Although you can’t tailor your exercise to just losing belly fat the strength and cardio training will boost the metabolism and help to get your overall body fat percentage down. It is still worth doing the exercises that target your abs though, as when the fat is gone it will reveal your nicely toned six pack.
Cardio is cardio, what I mean by that is as long as you are getting your heart rate up and doing it then it really doesn’t matter how you do it. Go for a swim, brisk walk, go jogging or wash the car even. Depending on your fitness levels you should be able to find an activity that you enjoy and be able to do at least 3 to 5 hours per week. If you can commit to doing this your heart health will drastically improve and you will be losing belly fat as those extra pounds around your waist will melt away.
Last but not least strength training is another important weapon in your arsenal in the battle to losing belly weight. If you have lean muscle then the more calories your body will need and thus the less calories it will store. If you can find a strength training program you can do for about half an hour two or three times a week then that would be ideal. Try to mix it up a bit and work on different muscle groups on different days just to keep your body guessing and to keep it interesting.
Take some recovery time between sets and always, always drink plenty of water. Drinking enough fluid is essential to losing belly fat as the body needs it to burn fat efficiently.
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