Ideas to Lose Belly Fat

Ideas to Lose Belly Fat

Something that is always asked by those looking to lose weight is how to lose belly fat. It’s a question that ends up being asked a lot. We ask it every January 1st as it comes time to set the New Year’s Resolution for the coming year. We ask it in April or May when the weather starts to heat up and we can’t hide in a sweatshirt anymore. And we ask it of ourselves when we have our birthdays.

But before I begin to go over the steps to lose belly fat, and how I lost mine, you have to forget spot reduction. That hasn’t worked and will never work. You cannot do sit-up after sit-up and expect to all of a sudden get a six pack.

The only way to get a six pack is for you to burn the fat that is over your abs…and to do that you need to lose belly fat.

Step 1:

Proper hydration. Not only is proper hydration the foundation of health, if you drink enough water throughout the day you keep your stomach full and not be hungry. This comes into play in several ways…

First, by drinking 16 ounces of water right after waking up you ignite your metabolism and start yourself burning calories immediately. In addition, by drinking the same amount of water before a meal, you consume 15% fewer calories at that meal.
And finally, if you were to quit drinking alcohol and sugary beverages for water, you could easily save 200-300 calories a day. This can translate into about 30 pounds of fat a year that you can lose.

Step 2:

Strength training. I list strength training before I list cardiovascular exercises for a specific reason. They are typically neglected by people who are overweight. This is especially true of women who are looking to lose weight. The thinking is that you can lose all the weight you need to by just doing cardiovascular exercises.
Not going to happen. Here’s why.

By adding muscle, you actually turn your body into a more effective fat burning machine. You will burn more fat between your workouts, when you are sitting down, even when you are sleeping, by working out with weights or resistance bands. This is why strength training is an integral part of losing belly fat.

Step 3:

Aerobic exercises. Now it is time for the cardio. And there are plenty of cardio exercises for you to choose from, whether it be walking, running, the stepper, elliptical, treadmill or rowing machine. But the key is how you use them.
And by this I am talking about interval training. Intervals are short bursts where you go at maximum effort followed by longer periods where you work at lower levels of effort.

For example, on the elliptical machine you may increase the resistance and work at maximum effort for 30 or 60 seconds and then work at about 50-60% effort for 60 seconds as a recovery period before you begin the next interval.

Every study I have seen has shown that intervals burn more calories, and more importantly more calories from fat, than steady aerobics where you work at the same level of intensity through the length of time that you are on the cardio machine.

Step 4:

Eat right. You need to start eating foods that are considered ‘negative calorie foods’. These are nutrient dense yet calorie poor foods that will fill your stomach but at the same time not add a large number of calories to your system. It doesn’t matter how much exercise you do if you insist on eating high calorie foods you will never lose belly fat.

And the final step to losing belly is to…

Dump the scale. That’s right. I said get rid of it. Throw it out. Here’s why.

Your scale measures your combination of muscle, fat, bone and water weight. And if you are following my recommendations to lose belly fat, like drink plenty of water and strength train, you will be adding muscle and water to your system. That means that your weight is going to go up. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are gaining fat.

You will be losing fat if you follow these steps. But the scale will not agree. That is why it is much better for you to get a tape measure and measure your waistline which will show your progress in reducing your belly fat.