At Lifestyle Health Retreats (LHR) we promote a holistic approach to healthy living that include, proper nutrition and exercise. We understand that sometime you want to focus on burning off unwanted stomach fat, but don’t know the best way to approach the problem. There are countless ways to lose stubborn stomach fat, and we have compiled a few simple tips to help burn off that fat and keep it off.
1. To get started, there are two types of fat that you should know about. There is subcutaneous fat and that is the fat that we can see, and visceral fat is the fat we can’t. People store fat in different ways. Unfortunately for most, especially in women, the fat is stored in the most unwanted place and that’s on your stomach. The first step is exercising for weight loss. Any and all types of aerobic exercise will facilitate fat loss all over your body including your stomach. Stomach fat is the first to burn off when you exercise no matter what size you are or how your body is shaped. It works the same for everyone. You can’t just pick one part of your body and just lose fat in that specific spot.
2. When exercising to burn off stomach fat, make sure that you focus on exercises that are focused on burning calories and not just relying on sit-ups and crunches to flatten your stomach. Cardio is the number one and most important way to reduce stomach fat. If your belly is covered in fat, no amount of sit-ups will change anything. In order to see those abdominal muscles, you need to get rid of the fat that is sitting on top of them. Cardio is the key to getting rid of that fat.
3. Try adding resistance training to your exercise regimen. According to a 2006 study by the International Journal of Sport Nutrition, combining cardio with resistance training is going to be more effective than just doing cardio alone. If you’re wondering what resistance training is, well it is any type of training that involves free weights, exercise equipment or resistance bands.
4. Reducing the amount of calories you consume and switching out fatty foods for foods that contain good fat will make a huge difference. If you keep eating unhealthy, you are never going to get rid of that belly fat. You must throw out your old eating habits and bring in new healthy eating habits. Just by reducing your calorie intake by 500 a day of bad for you foods, you could lose up to a pound a week.
5. Consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables and at least two servings of lean meats or fish a day. Whole grains changes the glucose and insulin response in your body that speeds up the melting of fat and reach the deep hard to get rid of layer of fat sitting on top of your abdomen. Also eat good fats, these fats include: nuts, berries, eggs, protein, oatmeal, soybeans, avocados etc. Eating good fats, helps to prevent the accumulation of hard to reach fat and the fat that you can see and grab. The most important step is to stay motivated. By deciding to get rid of stomach fat, you are making the best decision that is going to benefit your life in the long run.
Deciding to get healthy and shed unwanted fat is going to help you prevent diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. At LHR we believe your fitness goals are achievable, even though at times it may seem as if they are not. With hard work and commitment, anything easy possible and small changes in the right direction are the key to long term success.
