To get rid of belly fat, which is more effective a belly fat diet or abdominal exercises?
It can get confusing. But based on the latest research, the best way for you to lose belly fat is by combining a healthy belly fat diet with both aerobics and a good abdominal exercise routine.
According to George Blackburn at the Harvard Medical School, to effectively lose belly fat and keep it off, you need to adopt "a new lifestyle that reduces your caloric intake, improves the quality of the food in your diet and increases the amount of daily exercise."
Of course, you can't force your body to target losing stomach fat first.
But here’s how it works. The greater your calorie deficit the more body fat (including belly fat) you’ll lose. And the more aerobic and ab exercises you do, the more you’ll firm up your midriff.
The 7 Keys to How to Lose Belly Fat
Although there’s no miracle flat belly diet or abdominal exercise plan that can magically zap your gut (no matter what anyone says), if you’re committed to losing belly fat, follow these 7 simple steps to success.
1. Eat a healthy high fiber diet: A 5-year study of over 1,000 men and women, published in the Journal Obesity, found that a healthy high fiber diet of low-glycemic vegetables and fresh fruits, 100% whole grains, nuts and beans caused the participants to have less abdominal fat.
The more fiber they ate the more they lost and the lower their belly fat.
Other nutrients shown to help reduce belly fat are calcium, especially low-fat yogurt, lean protein and essential fatty acids, like fish oil and olive oil.
2. Do aerobic and ab exercises: That same research confirmed a Duke University study, which found regular vigorous or moderate exercise (30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week) significantly decreases belly fat.
Studies also show that building muscle with weight training, aerobics and core exercises increases your metabolism calorie-burning activity.
3. Decrease you calorie intake Trying to burn off excess calories to lose weight with exercise alone can be a frustrating and time-consuming project.
Plus, many studies show that exercise without cutting calories doesn’t create long-term weight loss. The best approach to losing fat is a healthy low-calorie diet combined with exercise to burn off even more calories.
4. Increase your healthy fluids: Thirst is often mistaken for hunger, which leads to overeating. Staying well-hydrated with healthy liquids helps detox your body, burn fat and improve digestion, reducing gas and bloating.
Just make sure you choose healthy beverages, like water or herb teas over high-sugar drinks like sodas, fruit juice, alcohol and fancy lattes.
5. Handle the stress in your life: Feeling stressed-out can lead to making unhealthy food choices and overeating. But exercise is one of the very best ways to both decrease stress hormones and burn extra calories.
Other excellent stress management techniques include meditation, yoga, having more fun, using positive affirmations, building a healthy social network and hanging out with health-oriented, supportive friends.
6. Get the right amount of sleep: Although exercise is vitally important to your losing belly fat plan, so is sleep and rest. One study found that people who got 6 to 7 hours of sleep a night, over a 5 year period, had less belly fat than those who slept 8 or more and 5 or less hours a night.
So getting the right amount of sleep seems to be part of the overall picture.
7. Practice patient persistence: Losing weight and belly fat takes long-term commitment to making permanent healthy lifestyle changes.
And since changing habits comes with a learning curve, it’s essential that you consistently stick with these 7 guidelines – if you stray, just persistently get right back on track.
Although there’s nothing flashy about this healthy belly fat diet and exercise plan, it’s based on what works – if you do! So focus on the many rewards you’ll reap from losing your belly fat.
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Note: The information contained on this website is not intended to be prescriptive. Any attempt to diagnose or treat an illness should come under the direction of a physician who is familiar with nutritional therapy.
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