By Tara • 15 Comments
Want to know the reasons you’re not losing belly fat? You exercise regularly and eat healthy but you still cannot lose your abdominal fat. With all your focus on losing, you feel like you just can’t get ahead. So how do you combat this daily battle of the bulge? For one, you need to make sure you eat a balanced diet that includes veggies, fruits and lean proteins. And what else? As a personal trainer for over a decade, I help people to overcome this issue regularly and now I am here to help you. Here are the reasons you’re not losing belly fat and how to combat this!
Your late night craving for popcorn turns into an all-out feast. You wake up the next day feeling bloated, uncomfortable and anything but lean. Could your late night eating be one of the reasons you’re not losing belly fat? Absolutely! If you are overeating at night, your body will not have time to burn this off. So have some veggies late at night and get to bed early to avoid overeating. Your abs will thank you the next day with results!
You are doing endless hours of cardio between the elliptical, running and biking, but your belly is still not as flat as you want it to be. Why can’t you just run off that belly? When you run, you are burning calories during your workout but once you finish, you stop burning calories. In contrast, when you lift weights, you burn calories during your workout session and you continue to burn calories up to two days later. This is because lifting causes micro tears in your muscles and your body uses calories to heal itself. So include 2-3 days of lifting in your current routine to help achieve the abs of your dreams!
The finale of your favorite show is on and unfortunately this show will cut into the time you go to bed. But once you see the intro you get sucked in and cannot help but watch it through. The next day you wake up, sleep deprived (on 5 hours sleep), hungry and cranky. Did you know your extreme hunger is caused by lack of sleep? Sleep deprivation causes release of the hormone ghrelin, which is an appetite stimulator. So what should you do in the future? Record your show (to watch the next day) and get to bed early to get 7-9 hours of sleep! Wake up feeling your lean abs and strong core!
If you are consuming sports drinks, fruit drinks or sodas, you may feel the difference in the roller coaster of energy you feel and see the difference in your waistline. Switch to water with lemon, which can help you alleviate bloating and get back to your skinny jeans in no time!
Are the salty chips causing you to bloat? If you are consuming more than 1550 mg of sodium, you can be having excess abdominal bloating. Too much salt in your diet causes water to move from your blood stream to under your skin. So get outside for a run to sweat it out for an hour and cut back on the sodium. When craving salt, have some celery sticks, which are natural and can help combat your salt craving.
Cut back on your alcoholic drinks because they can be stimulating your appetite and causing abdominal fat. The occasional glass of wine won’t cause the bulge but a regular routine of drinking easily could. And always avoid margaritas or any other sugary drinks, as they are the culprit of the battle of the bulge!
You walk every day for 20 minutes, so why can’t you walk your belly away? Well for one, make sure you are working hard enough and finishing your workout covered in sweat. And if you are not feeling challenged by walking, you need to bump up your workout to a speed walk or jog. Secondly, you should aim for 45 minutes to one hour of exercise daily to burn ample calories and combat your belly fat!
Now that you have all the mistakes you may be making, are you ready to make some changes so that you can achieve the abs of your dreams? Just remember to make healthy eating choices and always find time for fitness!