Belly fat is frustrating to deal with – especially with summer here and wedding season around the corner. When you’ve been trying different methods to rid excess belly fat without seeing results, that can not only take a toll on self-confidence but also lead to chronic health issues. Compared to other areas of your body, belly fat can be difficult to get rid of. Depending on where your belly fat is located, some methods may feel like they’re doing nothing to solve your problem. If you’re struggling with stubborn belly fat that you’d like to shed, there are a few different methods that experts recommend to melt away those extra pounds.
What Is Belly Fat?
There are two different types of belly fat. There is subcutaneous belly fat and visceral belly fat. Subcutaneous belly fat is what we typically think of when talking about belly fat. It is fat that is formed under your skin. While visceral belly fat is fat that has formed around your internal organs.
Visceral belly fat is the more likely of the two to lead to chronic illnesses and health issues. This is because increasing the fat around and in your organs can cause several different metabolic disorders such as obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. This can increase your chances of suffering from heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and stroke.
While subcutaneous belly fat may be less serious, that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be managed. If you have too much subcutaneous belly fat, or if it is hard to reduce it, it may be a sign that you’re venturing into visceral belly fat territory, or that you have an underlying condition.
Everyone’s body is different. People develop body fat in different areas, depending on genetics, routines, and eating and drinking habits. Some areas where you accumulate body fat can be more difficult to get rid of than others. With that in mind, picking the right expert-approved route to remove your body fat will help you see the best results.
Tips To Help Reduce Belly Fat
Exercise, Including Cardio and Lifting Weights
It should come as no surprise that exercise is important in your journey to shed belly fat. Depending on where your belly fat is located, there are different exercises that can help you lose it.
Cardio are a great way to lose belly fat. When you’re doing cardio, you need to engage your core to do it properly. This in itself is an additional workout. Learning to strengthen your core muscles and keep them engaged helps result in a faster stomach and a healthier weight. Cardio doesn’t only need to run. You can also incorporate swimming, daily walks, bike riding, hiking, and other organized sports activities into your routine.
There are areas of belly fat that can be a little more difficult to shed. For these areas, adding weights can help. Everyone’s weight-loss journey is different. Start small, otherwise, you risk injury. This is another area in which you need to engage your core. Rotating between machines can help engage mussels that you may not have even known that you had. This is a great way to melt away fat from stubborn belly areas, like the sides and the core of your belly.
Eat A High Protein Diet
The benefits of eating protein are two-fold. They help give you fuel to exercise and they also are far more filling than processed foods. There are plenty of healthy protein choices out there, so adding protein to your diet can be an easy switch. Fish, eggs, beans, seeds, nuts, and meats are all good sources of protein. The idea here is that you limit the intake amount, especially when it comes to red meat. As they say, too much of a good thing means that it is no longer helping – it’s doing more damage than good.
20 to 30 grams of protein in a meal and 10 grams of protein for a snack is the recommended amount. When snacking, nuts, jerky, grain protein bars, or small amounts of dairy products can fill you up, while helping maintain your weight goals.
Eat Less Processed Foods
When it comes to shedding stubborn belly fat, diet plays a significant factor in it. However, many people turn to unhealthy or fad diets to try and shed pounds quickly. The problem with this method is that, oftentimes, once you end your diet, you bounce back into unhealthy habits and your weight loss is temporary.
Experts recommend a diet, that is high in protein. Carbohydrates are a common factor when it comes to weight gain. The problem with carbs is that they are easily accessible and can become addictive. However, not all carbs are bad. Instead of reaching for your favorite bag of chips or sugary snacks, consider veggies, beans, and products made with whole grains as a replacement.
Get A Good Night’s Sleep
It may come as a surprise to some, but getting a good night’s sleep can help promote weight loss. When you get a less-than-beneficial night’s sleep, it causes an imbalance in your body’s cycle. A good night’s sleep promotes a healthy metabolism.
So if you wake up feeling sluggish, not only will you not be functioning well enough, but your body may also crave salty, greasy, and unhealthy foods. Your body is looking for a way to compensate and find fuel.
Eat Probiotic Foods Or Take Probiotic Supplements
Probiotics are a great way to help regulate gut health. When your gut is happy and healthy, your body becomes more regular. Probiotics can also help with your metabolism and prevent bloating.
There are plenty of foods that contain probiotics – fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut are a great resource, and you can even make them at home. Other probiotic-rich foods are yogurt, kombucha, gee, sourdough bread, and surprisingly enough, pickles.
While eating these foods daily is not everyone’s cup of tea, there are plenty of probiotic supplements that you can take daily to improve your gut health and intestinal lining.
Drink Green Tea
Green tea is a great way to start off your day. It not only contains caffeine, but it also has a naturally occurring ingredient in it called catechin. Catechin is an antioxidant, which is good for your overall health. In addition to increasing the intake of your antioxidant levels, the combination of catechin and caffeine helps increase metabolism.
Your metabolism is an essential part of maintaining a healthy weight. The faster your metabolism is, the easier it is to shed belly fat and keep it off.
Green tea has other benefits as well. It can increase the level of energy that your body uses throughout the day, making it not only a great alternative to coffee but one that promotes a healthy gut.
What Burns The Most Stomach Fat?
When it comes to burning stomach fat, there isn’t one method that works the best. Burning stomach fat needs to be balanced. Carefully choosing your diet, exercising, and being mindful of your overall health all contribute to melting away those unwanted pounds.
Developing a healthy lifestyle will also help you keep those pounds off. While many fad diets may seem appealing as they advertise instant results, you’re likely to slip back into old habits once that diet has ended.
What Is The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat?
When it comes to picking an exercise that best suits your weight-loss journey, cardio is the best route. Cardio engages all sorts of different muscles throughout the movement in your body. Many cardio exercises burn more calories than you would think and don’t even feel like you’re working out.
If you’re not into running or jogging, swimming is one of the best ways to burn fat. It’s a low-impact exercise on joints and with so many different swimming forms, you can select the one that fits you best.
All in all, losing excess belly fat is a journey, one that takes balance. Making sure that you are focusing on your health and promoting an active lifestyle can help you shed those extra pounds.