If you are doing 100 sit-ups a day and following drastic diets because you want to lose belly fat, you may need to rethink your approach. If you really want to reduce belly fat, you need to follow a healthy diet and exercise regime that will provide lasting, long-term results.
If you thought that sit-ups and crunches were the best exercises to lose belly fat, you can think again. While exercises like crunches and sit-ups will strengthen your stomach muscles, you are wasting your time if you think that abdominal exercises alone will work to burn off your belly fat. You can’t reduce fat from one just one area of your body. When you do lose weight all over, the belly fat covering your stomach will go too, and those sit-ups and crunches will pay off when you can see your strong abdominal muscles. But that won’t happen unless you follow all of these tips, as well.
Eating healthily is a key to losing stubborn belly fat. Cut out processed food, sugary food and food high in saturated fat and eat whole, unprocessed foods like lean meat, eggs, low fat dairy, vegetables, natural oils and nuts and whole grains. Try eating less carbs, as the body easily stores extra carbohydrates that aren’t used up as fat. When you do eat carbs, eat them after you exercise to ensure the energy will be used up and not stored. It’s okay to eat a little bit of junk, but make it no more than four meals a week. Limit the amount of alcohol you drink and when you do drink alcohol, pick red wine. You won’t lose belly fat if you drink beer and sweet liqueurs. Drink more water and herbal tea.
Commit to strength training to promote fat loss and prevent muscle loss. Strength training exercises like squats and deadlifts are fantastic exercises to lose belly fat, as they work most areas of your body and incorporate your stomach muscles. Strength training boosts your metabolism, which means you will burn more calories, allowing you to eat more but still lose weight. Women are often worried that introducing weights into their exercise routine will make them bulk up. In fact, weights training will tone your muscles and is one of the most important exercises to lose belly fat. Combine your strength training with cardio exercise. Build up to 45 minutes of cardio exercise like running three times a week. Cardio is a fast way to burn calories and it will improve your fitness to really get you into shape.
Keep track of your progress. Stay motivated by measuring your body fat using a fat caliper and a tape measure every two weeks. When looking at yourself in a mirror, you will see your own self-image issues reflected. Measuring you body instead will give you a real indication of your weight loss efforts. You can also take pictures of yourself every two weeks – you will surprised how much you can lose if you stick to an exercise and natural food plan, and before and after photographs will show your progress most clearly as you lose belly fat. Tracking your progress will keep you enthusiastic and motivate you on your mission to reduce belly fat!