Many of us want to get rid of abdominal fat because it looks ugly, and makes our clothes feel tight and uncomfortable. We want to lose weight and get that flat, trim belly that we envy.
But a more important reason to get rid of abdominal fat is because it’s harmful to our bodies! Abdominal fat has been associated with conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and other life-threatening disease. Although getting rid of belly fat can be difficult, below are 10 proven ways to achieve this!
1. Always Eat Breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It starts up your metabolism and gives your body the energy to burn calories. Eating breakfast every day stops you from gorging yourself with unhealthy foods because you are starving.
Never skip meals especially breakfast as this will make you hungry. When you starve yourself, you’ll choose foods that are loaded with fat and or sugar to quickly satisfy your hunger. Eating these kinds of foods results in weight gain. Whereas limiting the amount of fatty and sugary foods in your diet will result in weight loss.
Don’t be tempted to skip meals, or go on fasts or detox diets where you eat nothing all day. These restrictive diets don’t result in long-term weight loss! They only get rid of water weight. Your weight will return as soon as you start eating again. Further to this restrictive diets can be very harmful to your body.
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, always eat 3 healthy well portioned meals per day. To stop hunger creeping in you can include two small nutritious snacks between meals!
2. Reduce Sugary Foods
The quickest way to lose weight is to reduce the amount of sugar in your diet! Too much sugar is bad for your waistline as it results in obesity! It’s also known to cause chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver disease.
All sugars including artificial sweeteners, syrups and honey can lead to an increased waistline if consumed in excess quantities. It’s best to reduce how much sugar you add to your drinks such as tea and coffee. Reduce, or totally eliminate the amount of sugar you add to foods such as breakfast cereals, fruit, or desserts.
Processed foods, packaged foods and fast foods all contain hidden amounts of sugar. So limit the amount of processed foods in your diet. Also try to limit foods that contain high amounts of sugar such as biscuits, cakes, desserts, doughnuts, and sweets. If you can reduce your consumption of these items by half, then you’ll lose weight.
3. Get Rid Abdominal Fat
An easy way to get rid of belly fat is to increase the amount of fiber in your diet. Dietary fiber comes from plants such as vegetables, fruit, legumes, pluses, beans, nuts and grains. It’s the part of a plant that your body can’t digest. Fiber is a dieters best friend because it absorbs water so it gives you a full feeling. This stops you from feeling hungry.
When you don’t feel hungry, you are less likely to overeat. Eating less food helps with weight loss. Fiber not only helps you to feel fuller, it also reduces constipation, lowers cholesterol and stabilizes blood sugar levels. You should eat foods that contain fiber every day. Eat foods such as:
- Vegetables: Brussels Sprouts, sweet potato, broccoli, carrots.
- Fruit: Avocados pears, apricots, apples, Blackberries. Fruit should be eaten with the skin on if possible as the skin has the most fiber
- Legumes: Alfalfa, clover, beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, soybeans, peanuts.
- Beans: Black beans, lima beans
- Seeds and nuts: Flax seeds, hazelnuts
- Grains: Oats, barley
4. Eat More Vegetables
Most people don’t eat enough vegetables. As mentioned in the above point, vegetables contain fiber which helps with weight loss. On top of this they are low in calories and are full of nutrients that your body needs to function properly.
To get rid of belly fat, increase the amount of vegetables you eat. You should be eating 5 serves of vegetables per day. However, don’t add any fats such as mayo, sour cream, etc. as fats will increase the number of calories in the food.
5. Eat Protein
Another way to get rid of abdominal fat is to eat foods that contain protein. Protein helps you to retain muscle mass when you are dieting. It also helps to build more muscle mass when you exercise. Protein helps you to feel full. This decreases your appetite.
Protein should be included in your 3 main meals per day. But only one of these meals should contain meat. Eat lean meats such as: beef, chicken, pork, and lamb. Make sure to remove any visible fat before cooking meats. If cooked meat contains fat, remove any fat before eating.
Other foods that contain protein include; fish, eggs, dairy products, whey protein, beans and nuts. There are many vegetables that are rich in proteins these include; spinach, watercress, alfalfa sprouts, Chinese cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, and collard greens.
6. Reduce Fat In Diet
The quickest way lose weight is to reduce the amount of fat in your diet. However, never completely exclude fats from your diet. Healthy fats are essential for body functions such as your sexual reproductive system.
There are 4 kinds of fats; polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, saturated, and trans fats. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are healthy fats found in fruits such as avocados. They are also found in grains such as canola, olives, seeds, nuts and fish. These oils are in liquid form at room temperate and are good for your health when consumed in moderation.
Saturated fat and trans-fats are potentially harmful to your health. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and come from animals. These include lard, butter and the fat layer found in beef, lamb, pork (crackling), and chicken. It’s always best to remove any visible fat from meat and the skin from poultry as these are high in saturated fat.
Trans-fats also known as partially hydrogenated fats, are made by pumping hydrogen into unsaturated fats, such as soybean oil. They may be found in margarine, packaged foods and some take away foods.
These fats result in an accumulation of abdominal fat and are linked to inflammation and heart disease. Always check packaging labels for partially hydrogenated fats and never purchase foods that contain these fats.
7. Reduce Sugary Drinks
Drinking too many sugar-sweetened beverages can make you gain belly fat. It’s easy to drink too many sugar laden drinks because they don’t fill you up. In this way sugar laden drinks are worse than eating sugar laden foods which at least stop you from feeling hungry.
The quickest way to lose weight is to stop drinking liquefied sugar. Sweetened beverages such as sodas, fizzy drinks, sports drinks, milkshakes, thick-shakes, and energy drinks are high in calories. These drinks can contain up to 12 teaspoons of sugar.
Diet drinks contain artificial sweeteners. Studies show that artificial sweeteners are responsible for the increase in worldwide obesity. If you want to get rid abdominal fat avoid drinks that contain sugar, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, and/or cream.
Natural fruit juices provide vitamins and minerals but no fiber. One glass of orange or apple juice contains 3 medium sized oranges or apples. Because juices are made up from 3 whole fruits, each glass of juice contains as much sugar as a glass of soda.
You probably drink more than one glass of juice per day. That means that you are consuming more fruit than the recommended 2 fruits per day. You are better of eating the whole fruit. The whole fruit contains all the vitamins, minerals and fiber. One orange or apple will fill you up, whereas one glass of juice doesn’t.
8. Drink Water
One of the best things you can do to get rid of abdominal fat for is to drink more water. Replace drinks such as sodas, fizzy drinks, alcohol, cordials, fruit juice and diet drinks with water or skinny teas.
Drinking water can be boring. Jazz up the taste by adding ice cubes and a squeeze of lemon, or lime juice. Other healthy water-based options include sparkling water or mineral water, unsweetened iced tea, unsweetened coffee and skinny teas.
Green tea contains caffeine and the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). These chemicals help boost the metabolism. Matcha tea is more potent than green tea. Combine drinking green tea with exercise to strengthen its belly fat reducing properties.
9. Best Exercise To Lose Weight
Exercise helps your body to burn more fat, it improves your health and burns calories. Studies show the quickest way to lose weight is by bringing up your heart rate with aerobic or cardio exercises.
Aerobic exercise also helps reshape your body. This makes you look better and increases your confidence. Make time to exercise at least 40 minutes, 4 to 5 days per week. Don’t make excuses not to exercise as a little time and effort gives big results.
Aerobic exercise can be as simple and easy as a brisk walk. To get rid of belly fat walk briskly by doubling the speed that you normally walk. Or walk quickly like you would if you were running late for an appointment.
Cycling is another cardio exercise which can be done either inside on a stationary bike or outdoors. Dancing is a fun way to lose weight and works many muscles that you may not normally use. Click here to find more aerobic exercises.
Whenever you exercise more than you normally do, you burn more calories. If you are consistent and exercise regularly for at least 40 minutes, 4 to 5 days per week you’ll start to lose weight. That’s why it’s important to choose an exercise that you know you’ll love.
My preferred cardio exercise is to walk briskly. I love walking around my neighborhood either on my own, or with friends. I always feel refreshed and full of energy after my walks. I aim to take at least 10,000 steps per day and use my Fitbit Tracker to track my steps. On my more energetic days I could get up to 17,000 steps, which is feels great.
10. Quickest Way Lose Weight
The quickest way to lose weight and get that flat belly you always wanted, is to focus your time and energy on changing your lifestyle. This is especially true if you lead a sedentary lifestyle. You don’t have to work out to lose weight, but you must change what you eat and drink.
Just doing one of the above tips on their own won’t get rid of abdominal fat. If you want good results, you need to combine different methods. For instance, you need to reduce sugar, reduce fat, increase proteins, increase fiber and increase exercise.
The above methods when combined will help you to lead a healthy lifestyle. Change your life for the better by making healthier lifestyle choices. Do this and you’ll find that you’ll be able to get rid abdominal fat and keep it off for life.
Your body is the only one you’ll ever have! So, take a long-term view and change your lifestyle so that you get rid of your excess belly fat. When you eat healthy foods, reduce sugary and alcoholic drinks, and increase exercise, you’ll find that belly fat will disappear.
What methods do you use to lose weight?
When you lose weight, have you been able to keep it off for at least 2 years?
Sustain the excellent work and producing in the group!
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