How To Lose Belly Fat

Introduction

No matter what kind of body shape you might have, excess fat is never a good thing. Not surprisingly, most of us are on a perennial quest to find ways to burn more calories and lose some of that fat. But, when it comes to body fat, the area of accumulation is what matters the most. Where your fat deposits are located can affect how easy or hard it is to lose weight and your risk of various health conditions.

As you may have already guessed, the fat that accumulates on your belly is a lot harder to get rid of and it’s also more threatening to your health. Here are a few effective tips on how to burn belly fat. But in order to reduce belly fat, it’s important to understand why this type of fat is so bad and if you really have too much belly fat, to begin with.

How Much Belly Fat Is Too Much?

The most precise (and expensive) way to find out how much belly fat you have on you would be by getting a CT scan or MRI scan. Of course, there’s a good chance that most doctors and diagnostic labs won’t recommend the procedure. If you’re serious about tackling belly fat, there are simpler and inexpensive methods of measurement too.

The two primary measurements are waist circumference and waist to hip ratio:

Waist Circumference

To get your waist circumference, take your waist measurements just around your tummy in line with the navel and on bare skin. Do this while standing to ensure that the measurement is accurate. For better results, inhale and exhale just before taking the measurement.

On average, a woman’s waist should measure no more than 35 inches and a man’s should be no more than 40 inches.

Waist To Hip Ratio

To calculate waist to hip ratio, you just add two more steps. After noting down waist measurements, calculate hip size by measuring the distance around the hips where it is widest. Then divide your waist measurement by the hip measurement. In the case of women, arriving at a figure higher than .84 is considered unhealthy, while anything over .99 is bad news for men.

Higher waistlines are now recognized as a risk factor for several lifestyle diseases, such as coronary artery disease (1). The accumulation of fat on the belly is often described as central obesity and the type of fat that is associated with increased health risks is called visceral fat.

What Is Visceral Fat?

All of us have some amount of belly fat and that includes individuals with washboard abs. This is not only normal, but it’s also healthy. Unlike subcutaneous fat, which is the soft fat that accumulates just beneath the skin, visceral fat is concentrated in the abdominal cavity and around the organs. When this type of fat builds up it poses a serious health risk. studies show that the buildup of visceral fat raises your risk of metabolic syndrome disorders including insulin resistance, heart disease, and some types of cancer (2).

Visceral Fat on thin people

Visceral fat is typically proportionate to body fat, with around 10 percent of body fat comprising this type of fat. While this means that overweight and obese individuals are at greater risk of excess visceral fat, it does not mean that thin or skinny individuals face no risk.

We are now learning that individuals who appear slim and healthy can also have too much visceral fat, although the fat buildup is not apparent externally. Factors that increase the risk of visceral fat buildup include heredity or genes and levels of physical activity. Individuals on healthy diets, but sedentary lifestyles tend to have higher levels of visceral fat.

How To Reduce Belly Fat

Choose An Eating Plan, Not A Diet

When trying to lose belly fat, most of us make the mistake of choosing restrictive diets and counting calories, thinking that this will help with more rapid weight loss. For sustainable weight loss, especially tummy fat, you need to pay more attention to the quality of nutrition and meal planning, rather than how much you’re eating.

Understand that some foods just increase the likelihood of fat accumulation in the abdomen and try to limit or avoid intake of such foods altogether. You can enhance the process of belly fat reduction by taking Setu Lean Lite. It’s a natural supplement that promotes weight loss, boosts metabolism, reduces appetite and lowers body fat.

Cut Back On Carbs

To be clear, we don’t mean that you should cut back on all carbs, but certainly on simple carbs. These are the types of carbs that you get from processed foods, including refined grains, pastries, chips, and so on. Instead, focus on getting carbs from whole foods such as fresh fruits and veggies. These foods are also rich in fiber, which will help promote fat loss.

It’s also worth noting that low carb diets promote greater fat loss and less muscle loss. At the same time increase your intake of herbs and spices or supplements that are known to enhance weight loss. Good choices include garcinia cambogia, fenugreek, ginger, and ginseng.

Ditch Processed Foods

Almost all processed foods are loaded with sugar, sodium, or trans fats. When it comes to visceral fat, sugar is one of the worst things that you can put into your body as eating sugar and added sugars is associated with increased visceral fat buildup. For example, researchers found that simply replacing dietary sugar with starch led to a 10 percent reduction of visceral fat in just 10 days (4)!

Trans fats, which are mainly found in junk food and chips are just as bad. An animal study found that simply switching the calorie source to trans fats (without increasing calorie intake) could produce an increase in visceral fat by over 30 percent (5).

Get Active

As noted before, the lack of physical activity is a major risk factor for excess visceral fat. This means that it takes more than a diet plan to reduce belly fat. You also need to adopt an active lifestyle as physical activity seems to lower levels of circulating insulin. This allows the liver to utilize fat more efficiently, promoting a more significant reduction in abdominal fat.

While all types of physical activity will help, moderate to high intensity training with resistance and weight training is most recommended. This is because building lean muscle mass increases caloric burn even during periods of rest.

Learn to Relax

Sleep and relaxation are the most common casualties in our quest for productivity, but this can be counterproductive. Inadequate sleep has been linked to a greater accumulation of visceral fat, among other health problems (6). However, it should be noted that this is also the case with oversleeping – more than 8 hours a night.

Aside from getting adequate sleep, you also need to make a conscious effort to relax and lower stress levels. Studies clearly show that an elevation of cortisol levels corresponds with a buildup of visceral fat (7).

Maintain Gut Health

If you’re looking for ways of how to get rid of belly fat, you must ensure that your gut is healthy and your digestive system is functioning well. To ensure gut health and digestion, you can add foods that are rich in probiotics such as yogurt, whole grains, dark green vegetables, etc to your diet. You can also opt for supplements if maintaining a diet is something you think you won’t be able to do. Setu Your Gut is a daily probiotic supplement, that provides superior gut health and stronger immunity.

FAQs

• What exercise burns the most belly fat?

There is no single exercise that burns the most belly fat, but weight training and resistance training exercises are more effective as they promote muscle growth. This enhances fat burning and it also increases calories burned during periods of rest.

• How can I get a flat stomach in 2 days?

When it comes to weight loss and burning fat, there are no shortcuts. You need to be consistent and patient in adopting a diet plan to lose belly fat and exercising. The gains will not show overnight or in 2 days, but can be fairly quick. Just remember that rapid weight loss is dangerous, so don’t fall prey to diet programs that promise such results.

• Does plank reduce belly fat?

Any exercise that works the core muscles or abdominal muscles will help to fight belly fat. However, for best results you should keep your exercise routines varied, including exercises that target various muscle groups, focusing on both cardio and weight training.

• How do I get rid of belly fat without exercise?

While a diet plan to reduce belly fat is absolutely essential, your diet alone will not be adequate. This is because visceral fat buildup is strongly associated with sedentary lifestyles with little physical activity even when there is no problem with the diet.

• What can I drink to get rid of belly fat fast?

Although your beverage choices alone will not lead to belly fat loss, some drinks can help regulate digestion and enhance metabolism to drive weight loss through other benefits. Herbal teas like ginger and green tea are some good choices, as are fresh fruit juices and vegetable smoothies, provided they are prepared without any added sugar.

Recommended Reads:

https://www.setu.in/blogs/food/the-secret-fruit-for-weight-loss-you-have-never-heard-of-only-we-know/

https://www.setu.in/blogs/lifestyle/sleep-an-easy-way-to-manage-weight/

https://www.setu.in/blogs/activity/fitness-or-fatigue-5-signs-your-weight-loss-is-unhealthy/

https://www.setu.in/blogs/mind/meet-asias-biggest-weight-loss-secret

https://www.setu.in/blogs/lifestyle/you-think-belly-fat-is-just-about-diet-its-more-than-what-you-think