Losing belly fat and love handles can be a lifelong challenge for some people, but it is a challenge that you can beat. Having too much fat around the abdomen can pose a unique health threat that needs to be addressed and fat in this area tends to be stubborn and more difficult to lose. There are a number of weight loss strategies that can effectively burn fat around the abdomen, but like any new regimen, they should be done routinely in order to be effective.
Exercise for Weight Loss
Aerobic exercise burns calories and leads to weight loss when balanced with a restricted diet. Although aerobics are not targeted toward the abdomen, they help you lose weight overall which means that you will lose inches around the waist over time. Avoid exercises such as crunches that target strength of abdominal muscles, since they will do nothing to burn fat. Instead, focus on exercises that steadily burn calories, such as running. Resistance training can be helpful as well since it causes you to exert a lot of effort through using exercise machines or resistance bands.
Like any major lifestyle change, adding daily exercise to your life can be daunting at first. Instead of leaping into a full-fledged exercise regimen, begin with small steps. Start with a ten minute workout, and then increase the length until you are comfortably working out for an optimal period. Likewise, it can help if you work out just one day for the first week, then increase to two or three days until you are ready to work out on a daily basis.
Monitor Caloric Intake
You can consistently exercise every day for years without losing any fat if you are consuming more calories than you burn. Identify your ideal maintenance level, which is the amount of calories you should consume daily to maintain your current weight level. Subtract 500 calories from this amount, which should ensure that you lose roughly one pound per week assuming that you continue exercising and stick to the new regimen.
It can be easier to stick to a restricted-calorie diet if you resolve to eat every meal. Eating many small meals throughout the day ensures that you never get too hungry, which cuts the chances of binging or breaking the diet. Additionally, making sure that all meals are roughly equal in size will help maximize fat loss as well. Many people are used to eating a large dinner, which counters weight loss efforts because people are also less active after dinner, meaning that most of those calories are stored and turned into fat instead of burned off.
Snacking between meals is also entirely acceptable and even encouraged. The key is to keep healthy snack foods on hand instead of highly processed snack bars or bags of chips. Fresh fruit is a great snack because the natural sugars and fiber are slowly digested, meaning that you stay fuller until the next meal. Additionally, they are low calorie and it will not mess up your regimen if you eat some fruit to stave off a craving. Dried fruits can be packaged and brought to work or school as a travel snack. Staying hydrated is equally important, so carry a full water bottle and have some water whenever you choose to snack.
Avoid Refined Grains and Trans Fats
Instead of refined grains, try adding whole grains to your diet. Whole grains can help alter the glucose response in the body, which hastens the loss of visceral fat. This can be as simple as cutting out white bread and pasta in favor of whole wheat or wheat berry varieties. Similarly, trans fats result in more body fat retention, and cutting these out in favor of monounsaturated fats can help target abdominal fat in addition to decreasing the overall amount of calories taken in. Trans fats are chiefly present in partially hydrogenated oils, which means that avoiding baked goods and butter or margarine can help cut them out. Instead, safely indulge in avocados, nuts, soy products and dark chocolate in moderate amounts.
Add Fiber to Your Diet
Soluble fiber has the same impact on the glucose response and body insulin levels as adding whole grains, which allows the body to burn visceral fat more effectively. Gradually increase the amount of fiber to avoid causing digestive upset. If you are not getting much fiber, add just a bit more every day until you have reached the ideal amount. This will allow the natural flora and beneficial bacteria of your digestive tract to adjust accordingly.
Fruits and vegetables are an easy way to get soluble fiber into your diet, but make sure to leave the skins on for maximum effect since that is where most fiber is located. Instead of throwing away potato peels, season them and roast them into a delicious snack. Cut up fruits like apples and pears into manageable slices but do not peel them, just rinse the surface and eat them as they are. Interestingly, peas are especially high in fiber, so adding them to your diet in the form of a side dish or a soup can help boost fiber levels.
Why Should You Lose Belly Fat?
Most people just want to lose their belly fat because they think it looks unsightly or because they want to fit into clothes with a smaller waist size. There is a much more important reason to lose belly fat. As visceral fat, the fat around your abdomen is closely wrapped around vital organs in your body. Visceral fat cells produce hormones that can cause a myriad of health problems ranging from diabetes to heart disease and increased risk of cancer. Having excess belly fat is a legitimate health risk and needs to be recognized as such. Understanding the risks to having too much visceral fat and the benefits of maintaining a healthy body fat ratio can be a strong motivator by itself.
There is no single way to lose belly fat effectively, but there are a number of strategies that can be combined. Paying attention to the types of fiber, fats and grains that you include in your diet can make a huge difference in how quickly you are able to lose visceral fat. Exercising is a big part of losing visceral fat, since burning calories makes it harder to maintain excess fat. Even changing the way you eat meals and snacks can contribute to losing belly fat and love handles. By utilizing these strategies where they are appropriate for you and staying motivated enough to stick to the plan, it is entirely possible to reach your goal and live healthy.
Losing body fat from my lower waist has been a life long struggle for me, even though many average people consider me to be in good shape. However, my standards being on a bodybuilding level, I have been trying to get totally ripped since achieving that goal when I was in my early twenties. Since then, I have struggled to regain that level of leanness. Body fat in the lower abdomen area is to be a problem for males because that is the part of the body where it accumulates first and burns off last. That is known among the fitness community as the first place on last place off’ rule. For women, fat accumulates first on last off in the buttocks, hips and legs. The tips here are excellent in helping to overcome these rules.
This was a great article, I have been watching what I eat and exercising consistently for going on five or six years now and I still have stubborn belly fat. I have been re-thinking my work out routine here lately and I had just come to the conclusion that I needed more aerobic exercise in the routine. Now that you have verified that I know I am on the right track. Do you have an easy way to figure how many calories you are supposed to take in, in a given day, so that I can subtract five hundred and possible make some head way here. I was surprised to hear that you should avoid crunches and things that work out your abs though, don’t you want to strengthen them so that when you lose the fat you have that six pack under there? If you have any further information on this subject I would greatly appreciate it, thank you so much.
Your article really showed me a few things about watching calories that I never knew before, I am going to have to find a place to figure out how to figure up the amount of calories I am supposed to get in a day so I can start knocking them off and hopefully start losing weight again. Do you think that if you are on a pretty strict diet for going on four years and you go off of that diet for awhile and then go back to it that it will kick that weight lose plateau and you will start losing again? I was also wondering why it is that it seems African Americans have this natural metabolism to burn fat and develop muscle that is just ripped but Caucasians don’t have that gene and have to take illegal drugs and hormones in order to get to that point? I am so jealous sometimes.
I found your article to be very educational I love your advice on exercise, so many people think that by doing crunches and ab strengthening exercises it will flatten their belly, I used to think that myself until I really started studying exercise and diet in order to get healthy and lose weight. You have to lose the fat on top of the muscle in order for it to make a difference, once that fat is gone then you start strengthening those muscles to get that ripped look that everybody wants. In all honesty though how many hours a day do you think you have to work out in order to look like some of these people on the fitness magazines and exercise DVD’s? Thank you for posting this information I really enjoyed it.
I really enjoyed reading what you had to share on your ‘How Do I Lose Belly Fat and Love Handles’ segment! Each point had credible things to say and shared ways to help those who want or need to lose some excess weight. I especially liked reading the last point on ‘Why I Should Lose Belly Fat.’ I didn’t realize that there are more important reasons for losing excess weight in the tummy and hip areas than merely wanting to fit into a smaller size of pants. I didn’t realize that the fat that is around our stomach area is wrapped around vital organs in our body. How much more we should be aware of this, and take steps to take better care of our body! Thank you again for sharing this wisdom with us!
Contrary to popular myth, you cannot spot reduce fat on the body. You cannot use certain exercises or products to focus fat burning in a specific area of the body As long as you exercise properly and combine that with a healthy diet, your body will burn fat starting from the last place on – first place off. That is the rule by which the body burns fat. Conversely, the first place where your body began to store fat is the last place where you will ultimately lose fat. The body will burn fat proportionately throughout various areas of your body, depending on your genetics. That is what I have learned over twenty plus years of working out and dieting.
I read your article about a week ago and I have already started making the changes to my diet to cut out five hundred calories a day, and amazingly enough I really don’t miss it, I thought I would find myself hungry all the time but that is not the case. I have also adjusted my exercise routine to include more cardio / aerobics and less strength training as well. I don’t remember if you mentioned in your article that doing more aerobics would give you more energy and you would be able to sleep better or not, but I have noticed that it is true, I have more energy doing this then I did lifting weights. Don’t get me wrong I still do strength training but instead of three to four times a week I do it two times a week and the rest is cardio/aerobics. And I almost forgot to mention I started yoga as well, the first couple of times I did it though it kicked my butt, I never thought yoga would make you work up a sweat but it sure does, yet it is relaxing as well. Thank you for the advice you gave here it really changed my out look on this whole process and I think the changes that I have made are really going to work, I haven’t physically noticed any differences yet but I already feel better so I am sure they will come with time.
Wow your article explains the whole calorie thing a lot better than most or should I say a lot more simple. I just need to know how many calories I am supposed to eat so I can cut back. And the serving sizes, do you have any more information on that subject? I try to eat like the South Beach Diet but I think I need to cut back on the calories still the same.
Thank you for verifying what I already thought was the best way to lose the fat on my belly, Cardio / Aerobics, I have always thought that but then you hear people talking about doing crunches for flat abs etc. so it makes it kind of confusing. They should say for flat abs after you lose the fat do crunches. Any way I appreciate it and I look forward to anymore information you may have.
Thank you for explaining why you should lose belly fat for health reasons alone. I have been fighting with my husband over this for quite some time but he never believes me. I am going to show him your article and see if that helps at all. Thank you so much for all the information you have shared here.
How do you figure your calorie intake and what it is supposed to be? I never thought about just simply adding fiber to my diet and what that would do for me, thank you for that piece of advice. Avoiding refined grains, is that basically anything white, white flour, white rice etc? I have been avoiding starches as well is that wrong or should I continue?
I am so glad I found this, I have been doing things all wrong for a long time now. I was under the impression that if you built lean muscle that lean muscle would help burn off the fat so guess what I have been doing. Thank you for pointing out what I should be doing, how often do you recommend strength training with aerobics if any?
I never imagined that excess belly fat could lead to so many different health problems. Why is it so easy to gain fat on your belly but it is the hardest place to lose it from? I am printing this off right now and I am going to look at it every day to remind me of how I should eat and how I should exercise. Great post it confirmed a lot I thought I knew but wasn’t sure.
I thought I should be doing more cardio than anything else sense I want to lose the fat that is right underneath the skin between it and the muscle. But I thought if I developed lean muscle that it would help burn off the fat because it burns energy just setting there right? Now I know that you should get rid of the fat then work on the muscle. Not to mention you won’t lose muscle doing cardio either.
Well it looks like I will be doing a lot more cardio and a lot less strength building then I have been. If I start doing cardio and resistance training I shouldn’t lose any of the muscle I already have right? I should just be able to tone them and really make them pop with definition, (I hope). Please let me know if that is a false hope as well. Thank you for the superb advice.
I think it is important to do abdominal exercises because the help to build muscle in your core. Likewise, it is also good to build your back and lower back muscles. By having a strong core, you will avoid back pains and injury during running and other resistance (weight lifting or machines) type of exercises. Once you start to reduce the fat around your waist, your ab muscles will look much better than if you do not build your abdominal muscles. This will give you that washboard look that models and athletes have. Besides, it is a fact that the more muscle you build, the more efficient your body is at burning fat because muscle is made up of fat burning cells.
Are you actually supposed to eat up to five times a day? I have tried that and it feels like I do nothing but eat. Then when I think about that I start thinking this couldn’t possible help me lose weight when I do nothing but eat. I don’t know how people do it, I used to be one of those they never ate breakfast and I am just getting used to that now I have to get used to eating all the time.
Monitoring your caloric intake is key to losing fat. Can’t this also be done in portion size, a lot of people eat way more then they actually need just because they like the taste of the food, if you keep it down to proper serving sizes I think that will cut out a lot. Then if that doesn’t work take a look at what calories you are getting because you don’t want empty calories right?
So why shouldn’t you do any kind of strength training for your abs? Is it just because that won’t help you lose the inches you want to lose? Because after you lose the fat you are going to want strong abs or that six pack to show off, how do you get that with out doing crunches and stuff? And isn’t it better to have strong abs while doing the aerobic exercises so you make sure to do them right?
This is a rather strange question but If your system is running at optimal performance and your metabolism is firing the way it is supposed to, how often should you be going to the bathroom? I noticed you discussed adding fiber to your diet because it helps you feel full faster and it helps with digestion but this subject was not mentioned. I know it is weird but it does matter if you are trying to lose weight.
How do you know what your calorie intake is supposed to be? I never thought about just simply adding fiber to my diet and what that would do for me, thank you for that piece of advice. Avoiding refined grains, is that basically anything white, white flour, white rice etc? I have been avoiding starches as well is that wrong or should I continue?
Thank you for your article it explains the whole calorie thing a lot better than most or should I say a lot more easy to understand. I just need to know how many calories I am supposed to eat so I can cut back. And the serving sizes, do you have any more information on that subject? Or do you have a good calculating web site that I can go to so I can figure it out?
You are awesome and you have verified what I already thought was the best way to lose the fat on my belly, Cardio / Aerobics, I have always thought that but then you hear people talking about doing crunches for flat abs etc. so it makes it kind of confusing. Thank you for your article I have been looking for good tips on how to do this.
I appreciate the fact that you explained why you should lose belly fat for health reasons alone. I am hoping it will help me with the fight I have been having with my husband over this for quite some time but he never believes me. I am going to show him your article and see if that helps at all. Thank you so much for all the information you have shared here.
With the new year right around the corner, there will be many new years resolutions being made. I think people who are about to commit to doing all they can to lose weight should remember not to focus too much on the actual pounds that the scale registers. This is especially true if you are smart enough to implement resistance exercises into your regimen. If you do, you will most definitely see better faster results. But you may also notice that you might gain weight. Just remember this is because your body is increasing its muscle. That’s a good thing because muscle tissue is made up of fat burning cells. So it is best to go by what the mirror tells you. I also use a taylor’s tape measure and wrap it around my waist line in the mornings, on an empty stomach. This tells me how much fat I have burned from my mid section. I hope this tip helps someone.
If you are in fairly decent shape and have been working out regularly for awhile but haven’t been able to lose that stubborn belly fat, how long do you suggest doing aerobics then? I mean you aren’t a beginner anymore and you need to up the ante to see progress right? I have been reading all different kinds of answers so I was just wondering what you would suggest.
I still have not been able to find anything that can help me determines a good way to calculate how many calories I am supposed to eat in a given day. Do you have a simple way to calculate this that you could share with us? I really want to lose some weight but I have given up everything that I think I can and I have hit a wall so I figure I need to monitor the calories of what I am eating now. Can you help?
If you are in fairly decent shape and have been working out regularly for awhile but haven’t been able to lose that stubborn belly fat, how long do you suggest doing aerobics then? I mean you aren’t a beginner anymore and you need to up the ante to see progress right? I have been reading all different kinds of answers so I was just wondering what you would suggest.
This is actually in response to one of your readers, James I agree with your first on last off theory except for one point, after a woman has children it seems the very last off is her lower abdomen. I have been trying for years and still no luck. I am going on a very strict exercise regime and diet and I am going to do my best to lose that lower belly if this doesn’t work I don’t know what will besides surgery.
The last part of this article made a very important point about visceral belly fat. The health issues related to excessive levels of visceral body fat were mentioned in a recent episode of The Doctors. They too were discussing how to use diet and exercise to lose body fat. It was then that they mentioned how excessive fat cause visceral fat to surround the organs and well, this article states the rest and the ramifications and health risks. People who are obese need to learn about the risks they have to their vital organs, which is why it is more than a matter of vanity for them. It’s a matter of life and death.
I have read so many articles, your included, that explains the issues with fat around the middle of your body especially as a man but I never imagined that excess belly fat could lead to so many different health problems. I have been trying to convince my husband of this for quite sometime, I just hope that this article will help me do that before something awful happens. Thank you for the information.
Even though I have read multiple article that tell you to do strength training to lose fat I thought I should be doing more cardio than anything else because I want to lose the fat that is right underneath the skin between it and the muscle. But it is true that lean muscle burns off the fat as well right because it burns energy just setting there? Now It is clear that you should get rid of the fat then work on the muscle. You won’t lose muscle doing cardio either right because you are using the muscle to do the cardio?
Why is it that your belly is the first place you gain fat and the last place you lose it, not to mention the hardest place to lose it from? Well women do have problems with their thighs and butt as well right? Is cardio still the best thing to do for all the fat loss? I will continue to do resistance training until I learn other wise though.
In peoples’ quest for losing weight, many will probably come across some fad diets at some point. If you only recently started researching ways to lose fat, you may not have heard of the most infamous fad diets, the Apple Cider Vinegar Diet. The consumption of vinegar was first promoted as a weight loss technique in the 1820′s by Lord Byron. Apple cider vinegar is made of fermented apples, which makes it highly acidic. The diet consists of taking one to three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before each meal. Apple cider vinegar is believed to burn fat and when taken before a moderate meal it is believed to help you lose weight. If anything, it’s supposed to help suppress one’s appetite. If this sounds like a gimmick, that’s probably because it is. So don’t try this one at home, or anywhere else.
I know in the article it talks about cardio and resistance training for fast results. I was just wondering what your take on circuit training is? I was thinking about developing my own circuit training where I would do a little cardio then a little strength or resistance training then back to a little cardio. If you like the idea could you help me figure out the timing on al of this?
I have been trying for twenty years, different things to get rid of belly fat. When I was pregnant with my son I gained a lot of weight and I have been trying to lose that kangaroo pouch of a stomach ever sense. In a way I always knew that it was cardio that I needed to do, but I hate things like running, and of course that is the best for fat burning.
If you are following a strict diet and you are doing lots of cardio how long do you think it would take to see results? You are right when you said that stomach fat is more stubborn then most fat and it doesn’t want to come off easily, but why is that? I haven’t done any crunches in a long time and I am afraid I am losing that muscle strength, is that possible?
How much time should you spend on cardio if you really want to burn off fat fast? How much time should you spend on resistance training as well and should you do them together? If you do them together what should you do on alternate days, or is this something that you could do five days a week without injury? Your article was great thank you so much.
I have been working out and eating right for awhile now, my husband wants to start doing it with me but he doesn’t like as many vegetables as I do and he is just beginning in the exercise department. What is an exercise we can do together so he doesn’t feel left behind and I don’t have to skimp on my work out just to let him keep up? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
If you are used to doing strength training and you switch to more cardio and resistance training are you going to lose your muscle tone and the muscle you have built? I want to lose fat but I don’t want to lose the muscle I have built either. What is a good routine that will help me do both? What is the best food to eat in order to lose fat?
Is there a way to lose belly fat faster than just the normal rate? I want this gone so bad I can taste it. But if I do it to fast it will all come right back on won’t it? I just want something that I am going to see results quick with, do you truly think that Cardio is the way to go? Well that and diet of course. Which diet do you recommend?
Do you have to have a college degree in order to be a nutritional advisor? Or a fitness coach? I have been reading up on the right foods to eat and the exercise to do for about four years now and I have lost weight, now the people around me want to do the same but they want me to tell them how. Could I get in trouble for that?
What is a good exercise program for someone just starting out? I have about fifty pounds to lose and I have been dieting now for about a month. I am used to the way I am eating now and would like to accelerate the fat loss with exercise. Would you suggest simply doing cardio to start with like your article says or would you incorporate resistance in with it right away?
Aerobic exercise is great for burning body fat. But before you simply step on the step master or jog aimlessly on the tread mill or ride casually on the life cycle, consider the results of a study that was conducted over ten years ago. The results proved that the candidates of the study who engaged in aerobic exercises which included numerous intervals of anaerobic bursts (high intensity intervals which elevate the heart rate to an even higher rate) burned twice as much body fat than those who kept their heart rate at a steady aerobic level.
Is it true that the more fat you have around your middle the more at risk for heart disease you are? Does that go for both men and women? I know that you said cardio is the best and fastest way to lose fat but how do you start out slowly doing cardio? I am embarrassed to say that I am too heavy to jog, does just walking pass for cardio?
One thing I hate about trying to lose weigh, is the fact that it takes so long to see any results. I have been trying to lose about three inches off of my waist for about a year now and I just can’t seem to do it. I have tried different kinds of diet and exercise programs, nothing has worked, why do you suppose that is? Could there be something medically wrong with me?
I love your articles on losing weight fast, debunking the low calorie diet craze, losing love handles and belly fat etc. because they are always so helpful. I have book marked your web site because I am hoping to continue to find good diet and exercise advice as well as recipes. Thank you for such great advice and all the work you put into helping others to educate themselves.
I disagree with the article advising that you should avoid stomach exercises. On the contrary, it is important for everyone to do exercises that strengthen your core muscles. These include your abdominal muscles as well as your lower back muscles. Having a strong core has many benefits. With a strong abdominal wall, you can avoid ever getting a hernia, which is more of a risk as you get older. You can also avoid back problems.