Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 4: Exercises to lose fat
• Part 2 of 4: Get your metabolism off to a good start
• Part 3 of 4: Diet to lose fat
• Part 4 of 4: Measuring progress
• Tips
• Warnings

There are many dangerous and ineffective tricks for getting rid of belly fat. While there is no silver bullet that specifically targets belly fat, this article will explain what causes an expanding waistline and how to get rid of your armbands.

To step

Part 1 of 4: Exercises to lose fat

1. Do exercises with short bursts. Research indicates that interval training, or other short bursts of energy, builds muscle, and endurance faster than traditional exercises.
   • Try to sprint. Run as fast as you can for 20 seconds and then walk again until your breathing is calm. Repeat this for 10 minutes.
   • Set a treadmill, elliptical trainer, or stationary bike for interval training. Most modern equipment can be set to an interval training, this makes the exercise a lot harder for short periods.
   • Take a short walk. Incorporate some physical activity into your working day, for example by getting up from your desk and walking briskly for 5 minutes. Take big steps at a brisk pace, or walk up and down some stairs.
2. Get your heart rate up. Exercises that accelerate your heart rate ensure rapid calorie burning and fat loss over the entire body, including your belly. Not only can you burn your belly fat, but it is usually where you lose fat first when you exercise, regardless of your body shape or size.
   • Keep track of your mileage. Track your progress by tracking the time you run a mile. As your stamina improves, you will see that time decreases.
   • Watch for pain in your lower legs. If you experience pain in your lower legs when you run, you are probably putting too much weight on the outside of your foot when you put it down. Look for a pair of shoes made specifically to fix this.
   • Do not exaggerate. If you're just starting out with fitness training, try going 3 times a week and build up to 4 times when you're ready.Going every day doesn't give your body enough time to recover and build muscle, and it can lead to injuries.
3. Add strength training. A 2006 study published in the "International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism" found that combining endurance training with strength training is more effective than endurance training alone in getting rid of belly fat. You can do strength training with free weights, machines or elastic bands.
4. Skip the abs exercises - for now. Doing abdominal exercises or sit-ups will give you strong muscles, but you probably won't see them under your belly fat. In fact, the abdominal exercises may make your stomach appear thicker because of the muscles. Instead, try these exercises to target your core muscles:
   • Do the bridge. Lie in position to do push-ups. Rest on your elbows and keep your eyes on the ground all the time. Contract your abs, imagine going all the way to your spine. Lift your legs off the floor, you are now standing on your elbows and toes like a plank. Doing this should keep your butt down and your back straight. Hold this position for as long as possible. Don't arch or arch your back, but keep it as straight as you can. If you find this difficult at the beginning, you can use your knees as a support. Try to hold on for at least 30 seconds and repeat the exercise 3 to 5 times.
   • Do squats (squats). Stand with your feet 20-25 cm apart and extend your arms forward. Now lower your hips back as if you were sitting down. Do four sets of 15 to 20 squats.
   • Stretch the sides of your waist. Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart. Place your right hand on your right hip and lift your left hand up so that the palm of your hand is facing to the right. Keep your legs still in the middle and reach over your head with your left hand so that you straighten your left side. Do this 3 to 5 times on each side.

Part 2 of 4: Get your metabolism off to a good start

1. Relax. Research indicates that the release of cortisol (a stress hormone) is linked to the increase in belly fat. Here are some strategies for dealing with everyday stress:
   • Get enough sleep. Most adults need at least 7 hours of sleep to function properly.
   • Take time to relax. Even if it's only 15 minutes during your lunch break, take a moment to close your eyes, breathe deeply and calmly, and forget about your worries.
   • Keep stressors out of your bedroom. If possible, don't work in your bedroom. Tell yourself your bedroom is reserved for rest and relaxation, and let your worries dissolve as soon as you step into that room.
2. Try to take 10,000 steps every day. In a study where a group of men were asked to reduce their daily steps from about 10,000 to less than 1,500 (without changing their diet), their belly fat already increased by 7% after 2 weeks.
   • Buy a pedometer and try to increase the number of steps you take each day.
   • Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk instead of driving.
   • Stand up every 30 minutes and take 30 steps. If you have a sedentary job, see if you can get a desk with a treadmill.
3. Switch from refined grains (white bread, etc.) to whole grains. One study found that a group of people who ate whole grains (in addition to five servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat dairy and two servings of lean meat, fish or chicken) lost more belly fat than the group that had the same diet, but with only refined grains.
   • Burn fat with grains. A diet rich in whole grains changes the way your body reacts to glucose and insulin, making fat burning faster. In addition, the visceral fat, which is deeper lying fat, burns more easily than subcutaneous fat (fat that you can see and grasp).
   • Avoid white grains. Buy brown bread instead of processed white bread, and choose brown rice instead of white.
4. Drink lots of water. Research has shown that drinking plenty of water ensures a more active digestion, regardless of your diet. In addition, water helps your body to get rid of waste products and is good for your health in general.
   • Try to drink 250 ml of water, or 2 liters in total, 8 times a day.
   • Always bring a bottle of water with you so that you can drink as soon as you feel thirsty.
   • Know when you are hydrated enough. You drink enough when your urine is almost clear. If it is still yellow, you should drink more.
5. Breakfast. It may seem counter-intuitive to eat while trying to lose weight, but research shows that eating breakfast within an hour of getting up will keep your blood sugar more stable and your LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) lower.
   • Try to have breakfast around the same time every day. If you sleep late on the weekend, eat as soon as you wake up.
   • Have protein and high-fiber foods for your breakfast - as this digests more slowly than processed sugars and compound carbohydrates, you'll feel full all morning. Try eggs, peanut butter, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
   • Avoid cereals with sugar, waffles, pancakes, sweet rolls, etc. as the most important part of your breakfast. If you do this once, balance it out by also eating protein and fiber-rich products.

Part 3 of 4: Diet to lose fat

1. Reduce your calorie intake. Only if you reduce your calorie intake will you lose belly fat. Try these tips:
   • Remember that with a reduction of 3,500 calories you will lose a pound of fat. That means you either have to burn 3,500 calories by exercising or eat 3,500 calories less.
   • Set a goal to lose no more than one kilogram per week. More than that is unhealthy and can lead to the so-called yo-yo effect, where you regain the lost weight very quickly.
   • Keep a food diary. Most people underestimate what they eat every day. Get a fair picture of your eating habits by writing down everything you eat. Find an online calorie counter and calculate how many calories you are taking in each day. Use this to see what you can cut down on.
   • Try a diet where you take in 2,200 calories (men) or 2,000 calories (women) every day. This causes a shortage that will allow you to lose half to whole kilograms per week, depending on how much you exercise.
2. Eat good fats. Research shows that a diet high in monounsaturated fats - such as avocado, nuts, seeds, soybeans and dark chocolate - can prevent belly fat build-up.
   • Trans fats (in margarine, crackers, cookies, chips or whatever is made with hardened fats) seem to cause more body fat to be deposited on the stomach, so avoid this as much as possible.
3. Add more fiber to your diet. Soluble fiber (such as that found in apples, oats and cherries) lowers insulin levels which, as mentioned earlier, speeds up the burning of deeper fat.
   • Increase your fiber intake slowly. Now, if you eat 10 grams of fiber a day, don't immediately increase it to 35 grams the next day. You need to allow the bacteria in your digestive system to get used to your new fiber intake.
   • Leave the skin on your fruits and vegetables. Eating more fruits and vegetables adds fiber, but only if you eat the skin as well, because that's where the most fiber is. So don't peel that apple before you eat it. When making potatoes, leave the skin on as well (as with baked or mashed potatoes). If you do peel them, eat the peels as a snack, such as baked potato peel with Parmesan. It's also worth knowing that potatoes retain a lot more vitamins and minerals when you prepare them in their skins. Just don't eat pieces of skin that are green.
   • Eat more pea soup. Split peas are a fiber power food. 225 grams of peas contain 16.3 grams of protein.

Part 4 of 4: Measuring progress

1. Calculate your waist-to-hip ratio. The circumference of your waist divided by the circumference of your hips can be a good indication of whether you need to lose belly fat. Here's how to do that:
   • Wrap a tape measure around the thinnest part of your waist at navel height. Write down what you measure.
   • Wrap the tape measure around the widest part of your hips. Write down what you measure.
   • Divide your waist circumference by your hip circumference.
   • Know what's healthy. Women should have a ratio of 0.8 or less, in men it should be less than 0.9.
2. Keep measuring this as you progress. After you have incorporated some of the above strategies into your daily life, keep taking this measurement. Write them together somewhere and you will see your progress as the inches melt away.
3. Always weigh yourself at the same time. Since your body weight can vary considerably throughout the day depending on when you ate or went to the bathroom, it is better to always weigh yourself at the same time. Many people do this immediately when they get up, before breakfast.

Tips

• The way your body distributes fat is largely beyond your control and can depend on hereditary factors and the transition. What you can control is your total body fat - if you can keep that low, it doesn't matter where the fat goes, because there won't be much fat.
• Eat smaller portions with dinner. You really don't have to give up everything you like, but try to eat smaller portions. Large plates work against weight loss because most people are not very active after dinner. This is the basis of the advice to try to stop eating for a few hours before going to sleep. The claim that your entire dinner is stored as fat is not entirely true. The process is a lot more complicated than that, but the fact that you don't exercise much after dinner is enough to hurt your diet. You can compensate for it with a larger lunch, or a healthy snack for dinner.
• An easy way to burn more fat is to walk everywhere it can. You save money that you would spend on petrol, parking, public transport, etc. All you need are good shoes (bring your smart shoes in a bag if necessary) and walk, walk, walk. As you get fitter, increase the speed so that it speeds up and smile at anyone stuck in traffic during rush hour. Cycling is also a good idea because you will arrive at your destination a little faster.
• On days when you feel tired because you haven't slept enough, make sure you get some extra protein. If you've slept badly, your body is screaming for sugar and "junk food". You can compensate for this by eating lean proteins such as nuts and fish.
• If you're having trouble motivating yourself to exercise, do it halfway. If you have to go to the gym but you don't feel like it, by all means drive there and tell yourself that if you still don't feel like it, you can go home again. Chances are, once you are, you won't feel like going back (but if you do, it's okay too). After that, you tell yourself you only need to get on the treadmill for 10 minutes, even though it should be a lot more according to your schedule. Just telling yourself that you only have one thing left, no strings attached, makes it all much easier. And before you know it, your endorphins take over.
• If you often feel like sweets, replace sugar and sweets with fruit. The sugars in fruit are processed differently by your body than the empty calories in refined sugars found in most sweets and other processed foods. The fibers in the fruit ensure that the sugars are absorbed more slowly so that you don't get such a bad sugar peak (and the dip afterwards).
• If you don't have weights for strength training at home, you can just lift something else heavy. Or use gravity as resistance: do push ups or pull yourself up.
• Many women gain weight as they get older, especially after menopause. Fat distribution changes, less fat goes to the arms, legs and hips and more goes to the midsection. Some people even notice their waist getting wider while keeping the weight the same. Either way, the tips above can help reduce belly fat.

Warnings

• If you only do abdominal exercises, it may seem like you have more belly fat because your abs get bigger and they push the fat out.
• If you've been overweight or pregnant, you may have excess skin in the abdominal area that won't go away no matter how much belly fat you burn. But you can't know how much skin is left until you get rid of the fat first. It is possible that your skin will tighten a bit after you have lost all of the belly fat.