Most people looking to lose weight have a serious battle to fight when it comes to belly fat. Belly fat, also known as visceral fat, is one of the hardest to lose. However, if not eliminated, it can pose a risk of developing lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
If you are wondering about how to lose belly fat fast, read on. This article features 20 proven ways to help you burn belly fat and improve overall health.
Table of Contents
Cut Calories
The first approach to losing weight is cutting back on the calories you consume every day. You can reduce your calorie intake by 500 to 1000 to drop weight, specifically around your midsection area.
However, it is essential to note that cutting back too much can reduce your metabolic rate, which is a critical factor in fat loss. Start slowly by eliminating some foods in your diet and cutting back on the portions. The idea is to adapt to a lower calorie intake but still provide your body with the energy and nutrients it needs.
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Add Soluble Fiber Into Your Diet
When you eat soluble fibre, it absorbs water and forms a gel. This gel slows down the time the food takes to pass through the digestive tract. In turn, this process delays emptying the stomach leaving it full for longer.
Soluble fibre can also decrease the number of calories the body absorbs from the food you eat. As a result, you drop weight and burn more fat to use as fuel [1].
Foods that are high in soluble fibre include flaxseeds, oats, avocados, legumes, blueberries, and brussels sprouts. Consider adding these to your diet to provide adequate soluble fibre.
Take Probiotics in Your Diet
Probiotics are live bacteria that have a significant role in weight loss. Taking probiotics helps to balance beneficial gut flora, reducing weight gain and fat accumulation in your midsection. Probiotics are found in foods such as yogurt, kefir, Kombucha, temper, kimchi, and other fermented foods.
If, for any reason, you cannot have these types of foods, consider using probiotic supplements. These are available for purchase in pharmacies or online.
When looking for suitable probiotic supplements, consider getting one with these strains; lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus amylovorus, or Lactobacillus gasseri.
Do Cardio Exercises
Cardio is one of the exercises known to help with weight loss. If you are looking for ways to burn belly fat and achieve a flat stomach, you might consider adding cardio exercises to your routine. Spare 30 minutes to an hour daily and engage in some form of cardio exercise.
This can be running, skipping, cycling, jogging, etc. When starting, you do not have to worry about the intensity. As the body adapts to exercises, you will notice your endurance increases, and you can add on to the intensity at this point.
Cardio exercises are easy to do, and you can engage in any that you like anywhere.
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Add Protein to Your Diet
Protein is one of the essential nutrients that the body needs. Additionally, it is helpful for weight loss and management. If you want to lose your fat belly and improve health generally, consider increasing your protein intake.
When you eat food high in protein, you feel fuller for longer. Also, protein digests slower than other foods keeping you satiated for hours. Additionally, protein helps to raise your metabolic rate, which is an essential factor when trying to burn fat.
Eat more lean meat, fish, eggs, dairy, beans, and whey protein. These, together with other healthy foods in the right portions, will help you burn visceral fat.
Limit Your Carb Intake
Eating too many carbs, especially refined ones, has been associated with weight gain. Foods such as white rice, bread, cookies, and other processed carbs are known for raising blood sugars. If you are trying to lose weight, these only make the situation even worse.
Instead, eat fewer carbs and eat more whole grains. These will fill up your tummy and leave you fuller for longer. Eating food with minimal carbs can also help you fight your cravings and take control of your appetite. As a result, you will cut weight and keep it off with a consistent plan.
Include Resistance Training
Resistance training is a controversial topic among people trying to cut weight. Most believe that engaging in resistance workout results in adding weight and bulking up. But, it is necessary to do resistance training and build muscle.
When you change your diet and lifestyle in general, you cut weight fast. This results in loss of muscle mass as well. This is why resistance is crucial as it prevents your body from losing more muscle mass. Additionally, resistance training can tighten your midsection for a flat tummy.
Use Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is known for its health benefits, mainly because of its high acetic acid levels. You’ve probably heard of people using apple cider vinegar as a weight loss remedy. Well, it works, but you need to understand how to use it.
As mentioned, apple cider vinegar has a high content of acetic acid. This acid prevents and reduces the accumulation of fat in the body. Including it in your daily diet can help you maintain a flat stomach, of course, with other lifestyle changes. A tablespoon dissolved in a glass of water each day is advisable.
Avoid Sugary Drinks
Soda, fruit juices, and energy drinks have a surprisingly high amount of sugar added to them. The high sugar content can affect your weight loss progress. These liquid calories bring about fat storage around the abdominal muscles from all the remaining sugar that the body stores as fat.
It is vital to stay away from these to see changes and maintain a flat tummy. These drinks also trick your brain to wanting more, and you end up having more than you should.
Also, you are likely to indulge in unhealthy treats such as cookies, candy, and chocolate from the desire to have more sugar.
Eat Whole Foods
The first change you should make when trying to eliminate belly fat is altering your food options. Eat more whole foods to fill you up for longer and provide the essential nutrients your body needs.
Whole foods are rich in fibre, water, minerals, and vitamins, all essential for weight loss and overall health. Consider eating whole nuts, legumes, grains, vegetables, dairy, fish, etc. Cut out any processed foods from your diet and create a consistent, sustainable plan for your food options.
Drink More Water
You have probably heard of people talk about how drinking more water helps with weight loss, specifically belly fat. Do you know how? Well, when you drink more water, your metabolic rate goes up. High metabolic rate is the catalyst for burning belly fat and generally losing weight.
Additionally, drinking water can increase your total energy expenditure. This means you are likely to burn more calories when you drink adequate water than when you do not. When you drink water before meals, you feel fuller and reduce the chances of overeating or overindulging.
Manage Stress
It is impossible to eliminate stress from our day to day life. When you are stressed, you are more likely to binge, and most times, you choose unhealthy options. Stress is a significant contributor to fat gain, and if not managed properly, it can derail your weight loss progress.
Stress triggers your body to produce cortisol which is a stress hormone. For people with more belly fat, cortisol levels produced are higher. It is, therefore, essential to engage in stress-relieving activities and manage stress appropriately.
Get Adequate Sleep
Sleep is essential to keep your body rested, energized, and functioning correctly. When you sleep less, you put your body in a state where it has to struggle to build up energy. You wake up feeling tired and irritable. On this note, you reach for a latte and most likely skip your morning workout.
Over time, you create a habit of surviving on coffee and eating unhealthy foods in the morning. When you sleep, you allow your body to recuperate and reenergize for the next day. Also, you promote a higher resting metabolic rate, which helps to burn calories.
Practice Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is a term used to refer to a schedule whereby you rotate between eating and fasting. It means setting a specific time bracket where you should eat and another where you should not.
Intermittent fasting helps you consume fewer calories, which in turn results in burning abdominal fat.
Strengthen Your Core
If you are looking for exercises to lose stomach fat, core exercises are great. These may help you strengthen and add mass to your abdominal muscles. These muscles hold in your belly, which helps you look leaner and in shape. Aim to do planks and some roll-ups a few times a week to strengthen your core.
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Drink Unsweetened Green Tea
Green tea, over time, has become a popular beverage around the world. It is one of the healthiest beverages with the high content of antioxidants. These are essential for boosting metabolism, which in turn burns abdominal fat.
Although the taste of green tea is not desirable, you can train yourself to enjoy it. Sweetening it steals away its benefits and adds on to the calories you take. If you struggle with drinking green tea, you can add freshly squeezed lemon juice, mint leaves, ginger, or organic honey.
Check out our ranking of the best teas for weight loss.
Limit Alcohol Intake
Alcohol contains a significant amount of calories. Like sugary drinks, you should limit how much you drink as too much of it can derail your progress. Heavy consumption of alcohol is a significant factor in gaining weight, particularly around the mid-section [2].
If you are looking for the best way to lose fat belly, cut your alcohol intake significantly. It can be challenging at first, especially if you are a regular drinker, but it is possible. Like treats, save that beer or bottle of wine to enjoy once in a while.
Stay Active
This is probably a song to many people, but staying active helps to burn belly fat and overall fat. On top of exercising regularly, move more, and stay active during the day. If you can walk to the grocery store, then skip using the car.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Engage in some activities with your kids, ride your bike around the neighbourhood, or walk your dog. These activities slowly add up and can help you burn abdominal fat quicker than if you stayed inactive all day.
Check out our homepage for more resources on staying active and eating well.
Substitute Regular Oils With Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils to use for cooking. It contains medium-chain fats that may help to boost metabolism and ultimately reduce the amount of fat the body stores.
Replacing some fats in the diet and using coconut oil to cook can help increase your energy expenditure.
It is important to note, however, that coconut oil has a high-fat content. Therefore, consider using it as a replacement for other fat sources and not an addition.
Keep Track of Your Progress
If you do not monitor how well or bad you are doing, you are likely to let go and give up. Once you start making changes in your lifestyle, make a point of following up on how you are eating, working out, and your overall lifestyle.
It helps you stay on course with your belly fat loss plan and stay motivated. As time goes by, try on your ill-fitting jeans to see if there is any difference. If they fit better, then you will add on to the motivation to keep up. If they are still tight, you can then evaluate where you are going wrong and work towards making some changes.
The Bottom Line
Belly fat can be challenging to eliminate but no impossible. The tips above can guide you on how to lose fat belly and get a smaller waist. They are dietary and lifestyle tips that you can implement in your routine, work on yourself, and improve your health.
