Author: David Thornton
It's a common battle in the weight loss game. You feel you may be OK in other areas but that stubborn hard to lose belly fat just 'aint going no where. It's always the most uncooperative area of the body too isn't it?! I mean it's the most obvious and can be embarrassing, not to mention the stretch marks.
People are saying obesity is an epidemic today but I disagree, tough to lose belly fat is the epidemic. Over weight people harbour more fat on their bellies than anywhere else and there's good reason for it. Like most dieters you've probably tried all the normal things that people suggest such as working you abs to exhaustion and different fad diets. These will not help you lose belly fat.
Let me explain why none of these work.
Firstly I am going to tear strips off Ab work outs :-)All working your abs does is make the abdominal muscles bigger, this can actually make you belly look BIGGER! Does this sound familiar? There are certain muscle building exercises you can do that will actually help reduce your overall body fat percentage. Reducing the size of a bloated belly AND help conceal stretch marks, but ab work outs are not one of them.
FAD Dieting sucks alot of people in too.
As a dieter I'm sure you have (and I know I have) tried every diet under the sun but nothing seems to target the belly area. There is a reason for this. No particular diet will target the belly, what you must do is reduce your over all body fat percentage. This sounds logical doesn't it? Again, you can't target a particualr area.
The other misconception is that if you stop eating fatty food, you will lose weight. This sound logical too doesn't it? Well it's WRONG.
Ok, so what can you do to lose belly fat?
When the body feels like it is being starved of food it will do anything it can to cling onto the fat that it does have. This fat normally sticks on the belly area. Why is this? We have evolved over thousands of years to be able to survive and run away from predators. Because of this fat tends to stay off the arms and legs (these are needed to run and survive in general) and goes straight on to your belly. Annoying but true!
Getting rid of belly fat is fairy easy to do but most people most don't have to specific information to do it. You MUST take a different mind set. If your meals started consisting primarily of healthy protein and vegetables, the body would assume you're now in a "feast" phase instead of famine. This will trigger your bodys natural reaction to "allow" the weight to drop off.
Here are some great ways you can start to losing belly fat now!
Interval Training Helps Lose Belly Fat
There is mixed information on the internet about whether cardio or weight training is better for fat loss. Well they both work in their own way and should BOTH be included in a weight loss regime. But, what is best for you to lose belly fat? We will show you in a few moments some good weight training exercises but first here is the secret to making cardio burn as many calories as possible (that's what we want isn't it?!).
When you do cardio, whether it be cycling, running or even walking you need to vary the pace. This is called Interval Training. Here's what you do. For every two minutes of cardio training you need to do one minute at an effort level of 4/10 (where 10 is the hardest for you) and the next minute at an effort level of 8/10. This is interval training.
Remember you cannot spot burn. This means you can't do an exercise and expect it to burn fat from a specific area. Your body decides where you lose fat from. Very annoying, but this is the truth. All you can do is burn as many calories as possible and lower you body fat percentage. Interval training is the best way to do this and the QUICKEST way to lose belly fat.
OK onto the weights...
Again, DO NOT do ab work outs this will only make your belly look BIGGER. Not good! Instead concentrate on the following muscle groups (we'll explain why in a second).
Gluteus Maximus (Your butt!)
Upper back, and arms.
You may know that muscle uses calories to function. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn just being alive. So it makes sense to work on the bigger muscle groups. I won't list exercises here as there are thousands on the internet. Just do a Google search.
There are certain foods that will help you lose belly fat. Here they are.
1. Eat whole grains not refined grains - This changes the insulin level in your body and helps lose belly fat. Whole grain foods consist of brown breads and pasta's NOT white bread and pasta. Just look on food packets to make sure the food conains the whole grain.
2. Eat Apples, Oats and Cherries - These contain soluble fibre that lowers insulin. Result? Helps you lose belly!
3. Lean Meats
4. Nut's and SeedsHere are foods that will bloat and enlarge your stomach, aviod these foods:
1. Trans Fats - These are in margarine, crackers, cookies etc. Bad, bad, bad!
2. White Sugar - The no.1 cause of obesity, this is in alomst all processed and artificial foods. Cut down on these your belly will thank you!
3. White Flower - This is just empty unnutritious calories.
4. Dairy - Contains far to much fat, to lose belly fat stay well away from these. There is however a hidden benefit, sign up to our newsletter to learn how to use dairy to YOUR advantage and utilises it to lose belly fat now. If you implement what we have suggested above you will lose belly fat, starting today! Yes this is true but is there anything more you can do?
