How Do You Lose Weight in the Belly

June 23, 2010 by Alex Chris, Reviewed by our Editorial Board 

Losing weight is one of the most common goals for people in the Western world. Usually, this is specifically to lose fat around the belly region. The problem is that we’re all used to seeing thin models who have perfectly formed stomachs without a hint of extra flab. So how do you start to lose belly fat? Is it possible to just focus on a specific part of the body for weight loss?

The first thing to be aware of is that losing belly fat can only happen if you lose weight from the rest of the body too. Your body uses up fat stores from everywhere when it’s exercising or has a calorie deficiency and hence it isn’t possible to force it to burn fat from a specific area. For that reason getting rid of belly fat requires almost exactly the same methods as losing weight in general. Where your body stores fat is mainly down to your genes but generally fat is stored in greater amounts around the belly region.

Due to the fact that you need to burn fat all over the body to reduce belly fat the first thing you should do is start doing more aerobic exercise. This will burn fat from the entire body including the stomach. The good news is that even though it’s impossible to force the body to burn belly fat a large portion of the fat you do burn comes from the belly naturally. You won’t see a change in belly size immediately but over the course of a few weeks you’ll start to lose weight if exercise is performed on a daily basis.

To reduce the number of calories you eat can seem difficult at first. One of the most effective methods is to simply cut down on your portion sizes. That means that even though you’re still eating the things you like you aren’t eating as much of them. Smaller plates can help with this because it tricks your brain into thinking that you’re having a normal sized meal when in reality it’s a smaller amount.

You should also try to increase the amount of soluble fibre in your diet. This can help to reduce the level of insulin in your body. You should also try to eat a greater amount of mono-unsaturated fatty acids as these can assist your body in burning more calories. Anything that can help your body to increase its metabolism will make burning belly fat easier.

Many people find it much easier to lose weight if they have an actionable plan they can follow. Just deciding “I want to lose belly fat” often isn’t enough – you need to have long term goals, plans and rewards in order to stay motivated. For example, you might want to tie your progress to something other than weight loss. It’s difficult to say how quickly you can lose weight but it’s much easier to do so over a period of time if you know exactly what’s required each and every day. There are numerous weight loss plans available all over the internet but in many cases it’s best to come up with your own. This will allow you to cater the plan and targets to accommodate your own specific needs. For example, you might have to plan your exercise routine around your work or family.

Some people will argue that exercises such as crunches and sit-ups can help to lose belly fat. This isn’t true – in fact these types of exercises will burn very few calories from anywhere in the body. The only reliable way to burn belly fat is to exercise on a regular basis and cut out all the fatty foods from your diet.



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Alex Chris

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Alex is editor-in-chief of How To Lose Belly Fat Healthy. You can connect with him on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can also contact Alex for any comments or suggestions about the web site.

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