Fat in the abdominal area is associated with many ailments and diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Specifically, it is the deepest layer of the belly fat that puts health at risk; this is because the "visceral" fat cells actually produce hormones and other substances. There are many dangerous and ineffective tricks to lose it; Although there is no specific foolproof remedy for belly fat, this article describes the cause of the increase in waistline and what to do to eliminate it.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Lose Fat with Exercise
Step 1. Exercise at intervals
Research has found that interval exercise - alternating short intense phases of burning a lot of energy and others of rest - can improve endurance and muscle development faster than standard training.
Interval exercise to lose weight:
Shots:
run at full speed for 20 seconds, then slow down and walk until normal breathing is restored; continue like this for 10 minutes.
Equipment:
use the treadmill, elliptical bike, or stationary bike.
Quick options:
take a brisk walk for 5 minutes or climb the stairs as many times as possible throughout the day.
Step 2. Do cardio activity
Do aerobic exercises that help your heart pump intensely, burn calories quickly, and facilitate fat loss throughout the body, including the belly. Remember that it is not possible to burn localized fat, but abdominal fat is usually what you lose first when exercising, regardless of the shape or size of your body.
- Time your race. Keep track of your progress by noting the time it takes you to walk a kilometer; as your cardiovascular endurance improves, you may find that you run faster.
- Relieves periostitis. If you have painful periostitis (you experience pain in the anterior shin area when you run) you may be over pronating (you tend to take most of your weight on the outside of your foot). in this case, you can wear specific footwear to reduce this discomfort.
- Do not overdo it. Start with three cardio workouts a week or alternate this form of exercise with lighter ones, such as walking for half an hour a day. If you ask your body too much every day, you don't give it time to recover and regenerate muscle mass, with the risk of suffering some injury.
Step 3. Add some resistance training to your routine
A study carried out in 2006 and published in an American journal specializing in sports and nutrition found that combining cardiovascular (aerobic) activity with resistance exercises is a more effective method than just cardio exercise for getting rid of abdominal fat. You can do endurance activities with dumbbells, weight machines, or resistance bands, as well as training on an unstable basis to increase muscle activity.
Step 4. Avoid crunches for now
Crunches and sit-ups help strengthen muscles, but you are unlikely to see them under the visceral fat. Actually, when you want to strengthen your abdominal muscles, the belly area can appear larger than it actually is; your job now is to strengthen the back muscles to improve posture and bring the belly back in.
Alternative exercises for the abdominal brace:
Plank:
assume the push-up position, but support yourself on your elbows and forearms. Contract your abdominal muscles, keeping your back, neck and buttocks in a straight line; hold the position for 30 seconds or as long as possible. Rest and repeat 3-5 times.
Squat:
stand upright with your feet about 20 cm apart; extend your arms forward and do 4 sessions of 15-20 squats.
Lateral stretches:
stand upright with your feet hip-width apart. Place your right hand on your right hip and raise your left arm upwards, with the palm of your hand facing right; keep your legs still and straight, bend to the right by extending your left arm to stretch the corresponding side. Repeat 3-5 times on each side.
Part 2 of 4: Accelerating the Metabolism
Step 1. Relax
Research states that the secretion of cortisol (the hormone produced by the body when you are stressed) is associated with an increase in abdominal fat. Here's what you can do to combat everyday emotional tension:
- Most people need at least 7 hours of sleep every night. Stop using electronic devices, such as computers and tablets, half an hour before bed to ensure better sleep quality.
- Take some time to relax. Even if you only have 15 minutes for lunch, find a time to just close your eyes, take deep breaths, and forget all worries.
- Remove anything that causes stress from your sleeping environment as much as possible. Separate your sleeping space from your work space. Make sure you leave your worries behind as soon as you walk into your room.
Step 2. Aim to take 10,000 steps a day
Research found visceral (abdominal) fat increased by 7% after just two weeks in men who reduced steps from about 10,000 to less than 1,500 (without changing diets).
- Try to walk to get to places that are within a reasonable distance; if possible, walk to work, school, or the grocery store.
- Get a pedometer and try to increase your steps every day.
- Take the stairs instead of taking the elevator and walk instead of using the car.
- Get up and take 30 steps every half hour; if you do a sedentary job, consider using a desk for standing work or one with a treadmill.
Step 3. Give up refined grains and eat whole grains
A scientific study showed that people who ate only whole grains (as well as five servings of fruits and vegetables, three of dairy and two of lean meat such as fish or poultry) lost more belly fat than another group who had followed the same diet but ate refined grains.
- Whole grains are high in fiber that make you feel full for a long time and help you eat less, thereby helping you lose weight.
- Avoid refined grains; for example, eat wholemeal bread instead of white bread that has undergone an excessive processing process and opt for brown rice instead of polished rice.
Step 4. Drink lots of water
Some studies suggest that drinking water regularly throughout the day helps speed up your metabolism no matter what diet you follow. Drinking more water also helps the body to expel waste / toxins and improve overall health.
- Make sure you drink 250ml of water eight times a day for a total of about two liters;
- Always carry a bottle of water with you so you can drink whenever you are thirsty;
- Know when you are not hydrated enough. You can be sure you are drinking adequately when the urine is light yellow or almost clear; if it's darker than a post-it note, you need to drink more.
- Significantly reduce your consumption of alcohol, sugary drinks (such as sweetened tea, dehydrated fruit-flavored drinks, fruit punch, Coke, 7-Up and Pepsi) and sodas.
Step 5. Have breakfast
Eating when you're trying to lose weight might seem counterintuitive, but some studies have found that having breakfast within an hour of getting up keeps insulin levels stable and instead reduces LDL (the "bad") cholesterol levels.
Setting up a healthy breakfast:
Choose a protein:
eggs, beans, peanut butter, nuts, lean meat.
Choose a source of fiber:
oats, fresh fruit, green leafy vegetables.
Limit refined sugars.
Avoid sweetened cereals, pancakes, pastries, instant oatmeal.
Advise:
oats and other fiber-rich carbohydrates keep blood sugar at a healthy level, making the weight loss process easier.
Part 3 of 4: Weight Loss with Nutrition
Step 1. Reduce your calorie intake
Without calorie control, you cannot lose visceral fat. Write down how much energy you consume each day by helping yourself with a program that you can find on the internet, such as https://www.iconcina.altervista.org, or by doing other research online and record everything you eat.
- Remember that a 3500 calorie deficit allows you to lose half a kilo of fat; this means you need to burn 3,500 calories with exercise or eat 3,500 fewer calories each week than you consume. Break this down to find out how many calories you need to give up on a daily basis. To burn 3,500 per week, you need to set a deficit of 500 per day; for example, you can do physical activity to burn 250 and reduce as many with food.
- Aim to lose a pound a week or less. Increased weight loss can be harmful to health and trigger a crash diet cycle, which leads to quickly regaining the lost weight.
- Keep a food diary. Most people tend to underestimate how much they eat. Make an honest assessment of your eating habits by writing down everything you consume for a week. Use an online calorie calculator to find out the approximate number of calories you introduce into your body; starting from this point, find the one you can give up.
- Try a diet that has 2,200 calories for men or 2000 for women; in this way, there should be enough deficit to lose 0.5-1 kg per week, depending on your activity level. Some women need less energy, such as 1800 or 1500 per day. Start with an intake of 2000 calories and reduce it further if you don't notice results.
- Don't go below the minimum limit of 1200 calories per day.
Step 2. Eat good fats
Studies suggest that a diet with a high ratio of monounsaturated fats, such as those found in olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, chocolate, and soy beans, can prevent the accumulation of visceral fat.
Trans fats (such as those found in some margarines and biscuits or in all products that contain partially hydrogenated oils) appear to increase abdominal fat deposits; try to avoid them as much as possible
Step 3. Incorporate more fiber into your diet
The soluble ones (found in apples, oats or cherries) reduce the concentration of insulin thus accelerating the loss of belly fat. Women should consume 25g per day, while the daily dosage for men is 30g.
- Slowly integrate the fibers. If you currently only eat 10g per day, don't sharply jump to 35g per day; the bacterial flora of the digestive tract needs time to adapt to new eating habits.
- Eat the peel of fruit and vegetables. By increasing the portions of plant products, you can take in a higher dose of fiber, but only if you also consume the peel which is the richest part. Do not peel the apples before enjoying them!
- Cook the potatoes in their skins (both baked and pureed); if you decide to take it off, turn it into a healthy snack. Sprinkle it with olive oil, rosemary, salt and garlic before baking at 200 ° C for 15 minutes. By eating potato peels you are getting more vitamins and minerals than you can get from the pulp alone (just remember to discard the green portions).
- Eat pea soup more often. These vegetables are a "superfood" when it comes to fiber; a portion of about 180 g contains 16 g.
Part 4 of 4: Measuring Progress
Step 1. Calculate the ratio between the circumference of the waist and that of the hips
This value is a good indicator of whether you need to lose belly fat. Here's how to proceed:
- Wrap a tape measure around the thinnest part of your waist at navel level and note the number.
- Do the same by bringing the tape measure around the widest point of the hips, in the area where you can feel the bony protrusion about 1/3 from the upper portion of the pelvis; also in this case write down the value.
- Divide the circumference of the waist by that of the hips.
- Know if it's a healthy value. Women should have a ratio no greater than 0.8 and men no greater than 0.9.
Step 2. Keep tracking this as you make progress
After you have followed the advice described in the article, continue to measure the circumference of your hips and waist to see if you are improving.
How the body distributes fat tissue is not under your control at all and depends on many factors, including genetics, menopause, and so on. What you can manage is the general amount of fat; if you keep a small percentage, it doesn't really matter where it is, since it's still very little
Step 3. Weigh yourself at the same time every day
Since body weight fluctuates according to the phases of the day, after a meal or after a bowel movement, try to make the measurement a standardized process by always performing it at the same time; many people choose to weigh themselves as soon as they get up in the morning, before even having breakfast.
Advice
- Train in the morning because it allows you to expend more energy than at other times of the day. Performing some hops on the spot or push-ups immediately after getting up allows you to awaken the metabolism and even the mind!
- Put a note on the fridge to remind you to stay away from sweets and chips until you have lost weight.
- Don't eat fast food. If you can't abruptly stop consuming this type of food, try following the advice outlined in this article.
- Remember that you cannot lose fat locally; you can lose weight in general and not just in one place on the body. If you want to eliminate visceral fat, you also lose what is in the rest of the body.
- If you have a great desire for sweets, replace them with fruit; the fiber contained in it reduces the absorption of sugars to avoid the glycemic peak (and the subsequent abrupt reduction).
- Find a friend to practice with. Trying to lose weight with a training partner forces you to have someone "to account" for your actions and gives you an incentive to show up for workouts.
Warnings
- Don't try to lose weight too quickly. Crash diets and drugs that promise to lose weight are generally harmful to health and are not effective in the long run. Resist the temptation to take the "easy" way and stick to a healthy lifestyle instead; in this way, you lose weight and maintain the weight obtained in the long run, as well as improve health conditions.
- By doing only sit-ups and crunches, you only make your belly even more noticeable, as the muscles increase in size and shape, "pushing" the fat and thus making it appear thicker and bulky. Instead, opt for a combination of cardio and strength training.
