Lifestyle

8 simple ways to lose belly fat

Added: June 4, 2020 9:47 am

Everyone has some fat stored in their body, even people with six-packs, as there is the type of fat that lies under your skin and the type that is known as visceral fat, found deeper inside your body covering internal organs.

Visceral belly fat is the one you want to be extra careful with. Some of it is actually needed by your body to provide to kind of cushioning and act as a bed for your organs, but an excess of it can bring serious health problems such as high blood problems, heart deceases, different types of cancer and even dementia.

Things that make you gain belly fat

There are many factors that determine how easily will your body store fat, some that are not up to you such as genetics and hormones, while some others like your habits and your physical activity can easily be controlled.

Genetics

Your genes play an important role your waist-to-hip ratio and how your body will store fat, most times using your belly as a the destined place to locate it. This happens because of the genes for the receptors that regulate cortisol, calorie intake and weight. For women, there are even extra genes that influence on this ratio, which makes them vulnerable to storing belly fat.

Hormones

This one affects mostly women. Hormones play a key role shaping your body throughout life, especially during puberty, which is where we see men building up their frame and women getting their more womanly curves. But there is a time when hormones have special influence over your body’s fat storage, that is, during menopause.

Menopausal weight gain primarily affects the abdomen thanks to fluctuations in hormones such as estrogen, contributing to gaining more belly fat at this stage of life, as it causes fat to be stored in the abdomen instead of the hips and thighs.

Unhealthy lifestyle

The basic equation to gain weight is when your calorie intake is higher than the amount of calories you are burning through the day, meaning that a sedentary life will result in gaining weight as the excess starts getting stored.

Besides daily activity, a life with healthy habits and a balanced diet are important to make sure you provide your body with quality nutrients in the right amounts, so you can keep control on the amount of calories consumed.

Health risks of belly fat

Subcutaneous fat, the type that lies under the skin on your thighs, abdomen, butt and arms is mostly harmless and won’t cause you trouble; although it is the one people struggle the most with as they intend for a leaner look. But the one you really want to keep an eye on is the one mentioned before as visceral fat, covering your internal organs and being the leading cause of serious diseases.

Excess belly fat can increase the risk of:

Heart disease
Heart attacks
High blood pressure
Stroke
Type 2 diabetes
Asthma
Breast cancer
Colon cancer
Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia

It is important to highlight that you don’t even need to be overweight to be exposed to the risks of belly fat, even slim people within their normal bodyweight range can be storing hidden amounts of visceral belly fat deep in their abdomen under the abdominal wall. Being this one of the reasons why regular physical activity is a recommendation for everyone and not just for people who are trying to get rid of their belly.

8 TIPS HOW TO LOSE BELLY FAT

8 tips how to lose belly fat

1. Eat plenty of soluble fibre

Having daily sources of fiber in your diet is a good way to avoid belly fat and help with weight loss, but the type of fiber is important, meaning you should focus on soluble fibers, for an amount of approximately 10g per day. This should support major improvements in metabolic health and reduce the risks of decease.

2. Eat more protein and less carbohydrate

Cutting your carb intake has shown positive effects when it comes to getting rid of the visceral fat in the belly area. For those who are just starting to diet, avoiding refined carbohydrates such as sugar, candy and white bread, should be a good starting point, but if you are already experienced, a more detailed look into the carbs intake is recommended, as most of the fat lost in low-carb diets is from the harmful abdominal fat.

In addition, eating more protein can boost your metabolism and not only help you lose weight but also avoiding the bounce effect, regaining it after. Protein is particularly good against abdominal fat and can also help you feel less hungry, so it is a great way to keep your calorie intake on point.

3. Avoid trans fat

This is the unhealthiest type of fats. A high consuption of trans fats is linked to higher amounts of belly fat and other health problems like heart decease and insulin resistance.

4. Don’t eat sugary foods or drink beverages

Sugar consumption is one of the most known causes for weight and fat gaining, although sugars in general can be an issue, sugar-sweetened drinks can be even more problematic as they contain very high amount of sugars that is consumed in a short period of time. Your calorie intake will be affected but your appetite won’t, meaning that usually they won’t make you feel full and, because of it, you’ll easily end up eating or drinking more calories on top of the ones already consumed.

5. Don’t drink (too much) alcohol

As with many things, the key to dealing with alcohol is making smart choices and consuming in moderate amounts. One glass of red wine per day, for example, may lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes, while some other alcoholic choices may be full of calories that are unnecessary and will store as belly fat. On top of that, a high amount of alcohol suppresses fat burning processes and will further increase your fat deposits.

6. Replace cooking fat with coconut oil

Coconut oil is high in calories, nobody will deny that, but fortunately it is one of the healthiest fats you can find to cook with, so it is perfect to replace the usual vegetable oil and other extra types of fats used to cook. Coconut oil is not about reducing your caloric intake, rather about being smart in the types of calories you consume.

Eat fish every week

7. Eat fish every week

Don’t be scared when you hear about fatty fish, they are actually incredibly healthy and good for your body when it comes to sources rich of proteins and the good type of fats your body needs, such as Omega 3. It is advised to have 2 or 3 servings of fatty fish per week, among the options you can find salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies and sardines.

8. Drink green tea

Among other healthy benefits of green tea, this powerful beverage contains caffeine and it is full of antioxidants, which are of great help for your body to boost its metabolism and process the unwanted fat. This is the reason why green tea is present is lots of fat burning nutritional supplements, as its caffeine helps to mobilize fatty acids from fat tissue for them to be used as energy by your body.

Supplements against belly fat

Protein powder: A protein rich diet is effective when you want to lose weight, and protein drinks without added sugar and with low carbohydrate support your daily protein intake. If you want to lose weight, it is advisable to rethink your diet and increase your protein content, as it helps you maintain muscle tissue, thus keeping your energy intake high.

Recommended products: Iso Whey Zero, Vegan Protein.

Green tea extract: Its antioxidant main ingredient, EGCG, increases the activity of norepinephrine, a hormone that helps to burn fat. It is believed to particularily be good to increase fat burning in the belly area.

Recommended products: Super Lipo, Black Burn.

Garcinia cambogia: Contains large amount of HCA (Hydroxi citric acid) that impacts blood fats and the production of new fatty acids.